verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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encirclesimple
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encirclessimple
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have encircledperfect
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has encircledperfect
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am encirclingprogressive
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are encirclingprogressive
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is encirclingprogressive
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have been encirclingperfect progressive
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has been encirclingperfect progressive
Past
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encircledsimple
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had encircledperfect
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was encirclingprogressive
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were encirclingprogressive
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had been encirclingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of encircle
Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at en- 1, circle
Explanation
To encircle is to surround, or to make a circle around. On the last night of summer camp, the counselors and campers traditionally encircle the campfire and sing songs. Prisons are encircled by barbed wire fences, and hot, damp pavement encircles most public swimming pools. When you hug your little sister, you encircle her with your arms. If your tomato plants are growing too tall and flopping over, you should encircle them with twine to hold them up. Encircle adds the prefix en-, "make or put in" to circle, from its Latin root circus, or "ring."
Vocabulary lists containing encircle
Florida's B.E.S.T Roots: circ, circum
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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:
Several thousand people compete for spots in the lots and decks that encircle the headquarters.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 25, 2026
Thirty-six dancers with raised arms glide slowly forward as they encircle their prey, a lone figure on a red table in a climactic scene from Ravel's "Bolero" choreographed by Maurice Bejart.
From Barron's ● Feb. 25, 2026
It already displays two prominent, sweeping arms that encircle a bright central bulge, stretching across about 30,000 light-years.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 3, 2025
In their capture of Aleppo, the rebels now encircle several neighborhoods controlled by the SDF, and have promised the Kurdish fighters safe passage to northeast Syria.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 4, 2024
Bailey went to him each time with his hand stretched out, ready for a manly handshake, but Reverend Thomas would push away the hand and encircle my brother for a few seconds.
From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou
The carbon-rich disk encircles the planet known as CT Cha b, located about 625 light-years from Earth.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 29, 2025
Since 2019, it has expanded its attacks from northern Burkina Faso and now encircles Ouagadougou, threatening links with neighbouring Ivory Coast, Togo and Mali.
From Barron's ● Oct. 20, 2025
This framing device encircles just one remarkable chapter of the wild and colorful life of Miller, who lived so much both before and after the war.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 26, 2024
The A100 is one of Germany's busiest motorways and encircles much of central western Berlin, and the hum of traffic is a constant background noise in some western districts.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2023
A few investors bought up tracts of cheap land in Clarkston because of the town’s location, just outside a beltway that encircles the city and offers easy access to the airport and downtown.
From "Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference" by Warren St. John
Khanal had earlier told reporters on Saturday that Nepal needed greater research to "understand the changing dynamics of the Himalayan ecosystem" and the risks they pose to the landlocked country, encircled by India and China.
From Barron's ● Aug. 29, 2026
Weeks later, in July 2014, Drapatiy coordinated the safe withdrawal of 260 troops from an area that was encircled and relentlessly shelled for weeks by Russian forces.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
Several hundred city residents, social justice activists, and dozens of Newark police officers encircled the DHS site where Baraka was being held.
From Salon ● May 30, 2026
The island identified beneath Karnak is the only known example of such high ground encircled by water in the region.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 4, 2026
We tripped and could make little headway, and sticks cut at us and the mosquito-flies now encircled us mercilessly and ate at us.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
She pointed out one pup with a piece of trash encircling its neck.
From Slate ● May 27, 2026
Our beautiful encircling topography of mountains and hills is a bowl ready-made by ancient plate tectonics to be filled with smoke and smog.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2026
The “spiritual alchemist” who turns her San Antonio home into what looks like the HQ of a drug cartel by encircling the place with an 8-foot concrete wall.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 2026
More waste arrives daily, piling up like technicolour snowdrifts along the roads and rivers of Xa Cau, one of hundreds of "craft" recycling villages encircling Vietnam's capital Hanoi where waste is sorted, shredded and melted.
From Barron's ● Dec. 16, 2025
Inside the sphere, thousands of power-armored Sixer avatars stood in silent formation, completely encircling the castle.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
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.
