- 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.
Detectives from Cobb County Police Department’s major crimes unit are investigating the circumstances surrounding the rider’s death at Six Flags Over Georgia.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
"Weak gravitational lensing can constrain mass much further out, so you can get a better picture of the surrounding cluster area," said Finner.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 13, 2026
She emerged in the California art world during the 1970s, associated with the Light and Space movement, which explored perception through light and the surrounding environment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
Pantglas Junior School and surrounding houses in the village near Merthyr Tydfil, south Wales, were catastrophically engulfed in coal slurry after the colliery spoil tip collapsed on 21 October 1966.
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026
It is large and detailed, revealing the positions of newly buried land mines surrounding the Santo Tomas internment camp.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
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.
