- present participle of surround.
surrounding
Americannoun
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something that surrounds.
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surroundings, environing things, circumstances, conditions, etc.; environment.
He was too sick to be aware of his surroundings.
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the act of encircling or enclosing.
adjective
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enclosing or encircling.
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being the environment or adjacent area.
Synonym Usage
See environment.
Etymology
Origin of surrounding
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English: literally “inundation”; see origin at surround, -ing 1, -ing 2
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.
California has cleaned up lead-contaminated soil at thousands of homes in neighborhoods surrounding a shuttered battery recycling plant in southeast L.A.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026
Thursday's executive order declares the Oval Office to be a national monument, along with some of its surrounding rooms.
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026
It reduces the temperature needed to melt the material while also changing how metal atoms connect with surrounding molecules.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 5, 2026
As richer veins have been depleted, thinner seams are dug, with more rock being ground up and more silica being released into the atmosphere surrounding the workers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026
I walk out into the courtyard, and when my eyes adjust to the darkness, I hide the parchment deep in one of the crevices in the wall surrounding our house.
From "Across So Many Seas" by Ruth Behar
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
