surrounded

American  

[suh-roun-did] / səˈraʊn dɪd /

adjective

1. (of troops, a fort or town, etc.) encircled or hemmed in by enemies on all sides so as to cut off communication or retreat.

   Only a few of the surrounded infantrymen survived, escaping in the darkness of the early morning.

2. enclosed or shut in on all sides, as by a barrier or border, desert or mountains, etc. (usually used in combination).

   The huge master bedroom features a granite-surrounded whirlpool tub.

   The surrounded parcel of land is provided with road access by a right-of-way through one of the encircling properties.

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verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of surround.

Other Word Forms

• unsurrounded adjective

Etymology

Origin of surrounded

First recorded in 1590–1600, for an earlier sense; surround ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. ) for the adjective senses; surround ( def. ) + -ed ¹ ( def. ) for the verb sense

Explanation

Are there people on every side of you, giving you no way to escape? Then you're surrounded. Sorry to hear it! Being surrounded is one way of being trapped, but it's a trap caused by other people. On TV shows, you'll often hear police officers say to a criminal: "Come out with your hands up. You're surrounded!" If a criminal is surrounded, then the police have every exit covered — there are police on all sides. If you look closely at surrounded, you'll see round in it — just picture that round circle trapping someone in, and you will remember the meaning of surrounded.

Example Sentences

At the signing on Saturday, Trump was surrounded by the typical coterie of administration officials, such as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime proponent of psychedelics.

From Salon • Apr. 22, 2026

In the city surrounded by fields of buttercups, collapsed buildings and gutted shops follow one another, from bakeries to florists.

From Barron's • Apr. 21, 2026

Nearly 50 years ago, scientists identified metal-support interactions, where metal particles become surrounded by oxide materials such as TiO2 under strongly reducing conditions.

From Science Daily • Apr. 21, 2026

What made it credible as a snooker venue was the size and shape of the stage, surrounded on three sides by the audience.

From BBC • Apr. 20, 2026

They released me and I scrambled to my hands and knees to search for a way to escape, but I was surrounded.

From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff

Related Words

• ringed