envelopment

[en-vel-uh p-muh nt]

noun

Military. an attack on an enemy's flank.

Origin of envelopment

First recorded in 1755–65; envelop + -ment

Related formspre·en·vel·op·ment, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for envelopment

Historical Examples of envelopment

This was to elude a successful German envelopment on their Louvain right.
The Story of the Great War, Volume II (of VIII)
Various
She did not threaten Lydia with envelopment in her richness of velvet and fur.
The Prisoner
Alice Brown
Nothing but the news of the armistice of Leoben saved him from envelopment and surrender.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 2
Various
I wish, for once, Washington could come out of his envelopment and show us what his real dimensions were.
Passages From the French and Italian Notebooks, Volume 2
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Colli, outnumbered by two to one and threatened with envelopment, Mondovi.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 2
Various

Word Origin and History for envelopment

n.

1763, from envelop (v.) + -ment.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper