encompass
Americanverb (used with object)
-
encompasses,
present (3rd person singular)
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encompassed,
past participle, past
-
encompassing
present participle
verb
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to enclose within a circle; surround
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to bring about; cause to happen; contrive
he encompassed the enemy's ruin
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to include entirely or comprehensively
this book encompasses the whole range of knowledge
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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encompasssimple
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encompassessimple
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have encompassedperfect
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has encompassedperfect
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am encompassingprogressive
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are encompassingprogressive
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is encompassingprogressive
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have been encompassingperfect progressive
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has been encompassingperfect progressive
Past
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encompassedsimple
-
had encompassedperfect
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was encompassingprogressive
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were encompassingprogressive
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had been encompassingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of encompass
Explanation
Encompass means to contain. When you see the word, picture a campus which encompasses lecture halls, a football field, a medical center, a dining hall and some parking lots. Encompass can be used when talking about anything that contains something else. A lecture on Edward Hopper might encompass all aspects of his life and art, a work of art could encompass many techniques, and a policeman's jurisdiction may encompass an entire state. The continental U.S. encompasses 48 states. This entry encompasses many examples of the word encompass in use!
Vocabulary lists containing encompass
Born a Crime
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The Things They Carried
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Unit 1: Telling Details
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Stern says people will still be able to check multiple racial and ethnic identification boxes on forms to encompass all the ways they identify.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2026
The Agents and Infra segment will encompass apps and agents, which include Microsoft 365 and GitHub, the multi-model system grounded in rich-enterprise context, and global-scale Azure infrastructure, Microsoft said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
A template was then set up for other Instagrammers to take advantage, going on to encompass buzzy topics like East Asian rappers, the use of A.I. in the insurance industry, and the Himalayas.
From Slate ● Aug. 28, 2026
The daily analysis has evolved over the years to encompass “common suppliers, common customers,” and even ”which stocks are grouped together in passive vehicles,” McNerney said.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026
The US tests, known as Operation Hardtack, had been planned for nearly three years and were to encompass surface, underwater, and high-altitude trials.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
But now, preppy style encompasses so, so much more.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
The authenticity of the production encompasses the music.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
The actor paid a reported $15 million for the property, which encompasses a staggering 5,400 acres and has been described as one of the world’s largest privately owned islands.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026
Archosaurs, in turn, are the lineage that encompasses two of the best-known groups of terrestrial vertebrates: crocodiles and dinosaurs, including birds.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 2026
New Guinea, though it accounts for only a small fraction of the world’s land area, encompasses a disproportionate fraction of its human diversity.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
"Throughout an extraordinary lifetime devoted entirely to artistic creation, Kusama pursued an internationally acclaimed career as a pioneering avant-garde artist whose creative practice encompassed visual art, performance, fiction, and poetry," it said.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
That district had been Tennessee's 9th, which encompassed Memphis and was reliably won by Democrats.
From Barron's ● Aug. 8, 2026
Covitz has spent nearly three decades at the Fed, and his research has encompassed a range of topics on financial stability and credit markets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
“On the case side of things, I wanted something that encompassed the totality of the show,” he says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 24, 2026
China may actually have encompassed two or more independent centers of origins of food production.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
The protected area is enormous, encompassing everything we could see through our binoculars from there.
From Slate ● Sep. 8, 2026
Isak played 22 games encompassing 1,033 minutes, scoring four goals at a rate of one every 258 minutes.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
The 1858 oil painting presents a panoramic view of the Ecuadorian Andes encompassing the snow-capped volcanic peak at the top, blue glaciated ice below, and towering palm trees lower still.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026
Sets of instruments were stationed along every wall of the room, fully encompassing us in sound.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
The ANC was a broad coalition encompassing many different tribes, but its leaders at the time were primarily Xhosa.
From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
