surround
Americanverb (used with object)
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surrounds,
present (3rd person singular)
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surrounded,
past participle, past
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surrounding
present participle
noun
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something that surrounds, as the area, border, etc., around an object or central space.
a tile surround for the shower stall.
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environment or setting.
The designer created a Persian surround for the new restaurant.
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Hunting.
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a means of hunting in which wild animals are encircled and chased into a special spot that makes their escape impossible.
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the act of hunting by this means.
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the location encircled by hunters using this means.
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verb
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to encircle or enclose or cause to be encircled or enclosed
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to deploy forces on all sides of (a place or military formation), so preventing access or retreat
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to exist around
I dislike the people who surround her
noun
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a border, esp the area of uncovered floor between the walls of a room and the carpet or around an opening or panel
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a method of capturing wild beasts by encircling the area in which they are believed to be
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the area so encircled
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Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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surroundsimple
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surroundssimple
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have surroundedperfect
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has surroundedperfect
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am surroundingprogressive
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are surroundingprogressive
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is surroundingprogressive
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have been surroundingperfect progressive
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has been surroundingperfect progressive
Past
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surroundedsimple
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had surroundedperfect
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was surroundingprogressive
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were surroundingprogressive
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had been surroundingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of surround
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English surounden “to inundate, submerge,” from Anglo-French surounder, Middle French s(o)ronder, from Late Latin superundāre “to overflow,” equivalent to Latin super- super- + undāre “to flood,” derivative of unda “wave” ( see undulate); current spelling by analysis as sur- 1 + round 1 (verb)
Explanation
When you think of the word surround, think of something that's around you on all sides, like the trees that surround you in a forest or the people who surround you on a city street at rush hour. Sometimes surround describes the position of troops that force the enemy to surrender. You can also surround your property with a fence, or surround yourself with positive people. Both of these offer a way to protect or strengthen the thing in the middle — your house or your well-being. In a movie theater that has "surround sound," the audience feels like it is in the middle of the action because of the speakers placed all around the space.
Vocabulary lists containing surround
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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:
Syrsky led the defence of Kyiv when Russia tried to surround the city in the first days of its invasion.
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
The futile paradox of these so-called live-action adaptations is they require a tsunami of pixels to surround actual human performers with everything audiences adored the first time.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
You could see how they crammed into Westminster Hall to surround him for a giant photo on his first day back in Parliament.
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026
Questions continue to surround the free passage of ships through the strait, with Bloomberg reporting Friday that Oman had told European officials that ships may be charged some fees to transit the waterway.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 26, 2026
“Do you remember the part where those men come out of the ground and surround the rider? The men who look like the rider? The men who took him down?”
From "In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse" by Joseph Marshall III
The outbreak is a reminder of one of the persistent questions that surrounds lettuce: Do I need to rinse my “triple-washed” lettuce?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Controversy again surrounds the Dodgers’ trip to the White House.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
La Liga president Javier Tebas has criticised the "complicit silence" which surrounds Fifa after United States striker Folarin Balogun was controversially spared from suspension at the 2026 World Cup.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026
To answer that question, they measured DHA levels in cerebrospinal fluid, which surrounds the brain and spinal cord.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 29, 2026
A tangle of sunken living room surrounds me.
From "Landscape with Invisible Hand" by M.T. Anderson
He was surrounded by his beloved longtime partner, children, grandchildren and dog, he said, in a room filled with photos and quotes of his longtime hero, boxing champion, Muhammad Ali.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
A squat little gem painted gold, filled with vermouth jelly, surrounded by blueberry toast.
From Salon ● Aug. 11, 2026
Last week, wildfire crews in BC were forced to rescue a man when his home in the Village of Clinton was surrounded by flames, after he had refused to evacuate.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
A pizza counter and a live music stage surrounded by picnic tables makes it a great place to bring kids.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
The square was shady, surrounded by trees and small, brightly painted cafés, but Nighthand would not pause to allow Gelifen to eat the scraps left on the tables.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
The keratin membranes also remained stable during the healing process and integrated smoothly with the surrounding tissue.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 12, 2026
"What is special about MoM-BH*-1 is, the black hole star is essentially completely outshining its surrounding host galaxy, such that we're seeing pure black hole star light."
From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026
The events surrounding that night have been exhaustively investigated and recounted in numerous stories, documentaries and police investigations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
Two days later, the Dikhow and Mitong spilled into surrounding areas as the Brahmaputra and its tributaries swelled rapidly.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
The area surrounding the Metro station was more industrial than the parts of Paris they’d already seen.
From "City Spies" by James Ponti
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.
