envelop
Americanverb (used with object)
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envelops,
present (3rd person singular)
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enveloped,
past participle, past
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enveloping
present participle
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to wrap up in or as in a covering.
The long cloak she was wearing enveloped her completely.
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to serve as a wrapping or covering for, as a membrane of an organ or a sheath.
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to surround entirely.
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Military. to attack (an enemy's flank).
noun
verb
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to wrap or enclose in or as if in a covering
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to conceal or obscure, as from sight or understanding
a plan enveloped in mystery
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to surround or partially surround (an enemy force)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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envelopsimple
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envelopssimple
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have envelopedperfect
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has envelopedperfect
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am envelopingprogressive
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are envelopingprogressive
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is envelopingprogressive
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have been envelopingperfect progressive
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has been envelopingperfect progressive
Past
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envelopedsimple
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had envelopedperfect
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was envelopingprogressive
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were envelopingprogressive
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had been envelopingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of envelop
1350–1400; Middle English envolupen < Old French envoluper, equivalent to en- en- 1 + voloper to envelop, of obscure origin; compare Old Provençal ( en ) volopar, Italian inviluppare to envelop, Italian viluppo tuft, bundle, confusion, referred to Medieval Latin faluppa chaff, wisp of straw, perhaps influenced by the descendants of Latin volvere to roll
Explanation
When something envelops you, it wraps around you. The Snuggie Blanket is so popular because it envelops your body, leaving only your head uncovered. Sure, it looks dorky, but it keeps you extra warm. You probably noticed that envelop looks just like the noun envelope, minus that last letter "e", and that's an easy way to help you remember its meaning, too. Picture what an envelope does — it seals a letter completely inside, or envelops it. Envelop can also be used in a symbolic way, to describe something that consumes or occupies your mind. If the pretty girl you just met starts to envelop your thoughts, your work will suffer because you can't concentrate. Envelop comes from the late 14c. word envolupen, meaning "be involved in."
Vocabulary lists containing envelop
"The Tell-Tale Heart" by Edgar Allan Poe
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Comfy Cozy Lingo
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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:
The portraits on the wall, whose characters occasionally come alive, start to envelop us.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2026
This “deep-dive arctic wave” of weather is expected to envelop basically 50% of the U.S. — as many as 30 states, so it’s a big storm that’s not leaving soon, said Yawger.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 22, 2026
This is hardly the first scandal to envelop a major college team, of course.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 13, 2025
Months after ICE’s widely publicized raids, fear continues to envelop Santa Ana, a majority-Hispanic city with a large immigrant population.
From Salon ● Oct. 24, 2025
I look to his hands, calloused and big enough to entirely envelop my own.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
One moment the music envelops us in a mysterious hush and then it is downright jaunty.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026
"The feeling of relief and happiness envelops us after 477 long and unbearable days of nerve-wracking waiting," her family said in a statement shortly after her return.
From BBC ● Jan. 25, 2025
I love the sizzle of the hot, spiced ghee when it is poured into the lentils, the way that dal envelops a bowl of rice like a hug.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 8, 2024
For the polar bears of Manitoba, Canada, the sea ice that envelops western Hudson Bay for most of the year is the ideal hunting ground for a feast of blubber-rich seals.
From National Geographic ● Feb. 13, 2024
The soft chanting envelops us like a membrane.
From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood
At night, the narrow cobbled streets of Old Havana are enveloped in inky black, devoid of power and virtually deserted.
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
Two women witness the strange murder of a neighbor and begin to believe that something could be lurking in the mist that’s enveloped the Earth.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026
After he grounded out in his final at-bat, Freeman enveloped him in an impromptu bear hug.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
My left arm and hand are enveloped in a mass of probes, wires, gizmos and cuffs.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
Around him the shadows darkened and enveloped the swaying shrubbery and trees.
From "Son" by Lois Lowry
The blur outside becomes enveloping and unfathomable; the universe inside the car evolves as the friends invent tension-defusing rituals to keep from screaming at one another.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
But every cloud has a silver lining, even the cloud of wildfire smoke enveloping your city or town.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026
But the top note, the sauce, is the silence enveloping it all, peppered by the thunder of a squall just outside.
From Salon ● Jun. 28, 2026
Many fund managers have argued that the investor angst enveloping private credit is overblown and that the bulk of the loans they make are sound.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 11, 2026
Taking a spare blanket from the foot of the bed, she wraps it around all three of us, enveloping me in her warmth and Buttercup’s furry heat as well.
From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
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.
