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circumvent

[sur-kuhm-vent, sur-kuhm-vent]
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verb (used with object)
  1. to go around or bypass: to circumvent the lake; to circumvent the real issues.
  2. to avoid (defeat, failure, unpleasantness, etc.) by artfulness or deception; avoid by anticipating or outwitting: He circumvented capture by anticipating their movements.
  3. to surround or encompass, as by stratagem; entrap: to circumvent a body of enemy troops.
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Origin of circumvent

1545–55; < Latin circumventus (past participle of circumvenīre to come around, surround, oppress, defraud), equivalent to circum- circum- + ven(īre) to come + -tus past participle suffix
Related formscir·cum·vent·er, cir·cum·ven·tor, nouncir·cum·ven·tion, nouncir·cum·ven·tive, adjectiveun·cir·cum·vent·ed, adjective

Synonyms

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2. escape, elude, evade, outwit. 3. encircle; ensnare.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

preventthwartdeceivestymieavoidsidestepevadebypassskirtcrampstumpensnareeludebeguilequeeroutflankoutwitcircumnavigatedisappointcrimp

Examples from the Web for circumvented

Historical Examples

  • These notaries now advise as to the best way the law may be circumvented.

    Fighting the Traffic in Young Girls

    Various

  • To be circumvented by cunning must ever be the fate, but never the disgrace, of the artless.'

  • Ben here told me how she circumvented him at the Astor House over in York.

    Ben's Nugget

    Horatio, Jr. Alger

  • Guards and patrols could be evaded, or circumvented, but the hounds could not.

  • Peter had circumvented him by marrying Lucy; the time had arrived for him to overcome Peter.

    Barbara Lynn

    Emily J. Jenkinson

British Dictionary definitions for circumvented

circumvent

verb (tr)
  1. to evade or go around
  2. to outwit
  3. to encircle (an enemy) so as to intercept or capture
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Derived Formscircumventer or circumventor, nouncircumvention, nouncircumventive, adjective

Word Origin

C15: from Latin circumvenīre, from circum- + venīre to come
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for circumvented

circumvent

v.

mid-15c., "to surround by hostile stratagem," from Latin circumventus, past participle of circumvenire "to get around, be around, encircle, surround," in figurative sense "to oppress, assail, cheat," from circum "around" (see circum-) + venire "to come" (see venue). Meaning "to go round" is from 1840. Related: Circumvented; circumventing.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper