SURROUND

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does surround mean? 

• SURROUND (noun)
  The noun SURROUND has 1 sense:

1. the area in which something exists or lives

  Familiarity information: SURROUND used as a noun is very rare.

• SURROUND (verb)
  The verb SURROUND has 4 senses:

1. extend on all sides of simultaneously; encircle

2. envelop completely

3. surround so as to force to give up

4. surround with a wall in order to fortify

  Familiarity information: SURROUND used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SURROUND (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The area in which something exists or lives

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Synonyms:

environment; environs; surround; surroundings

Context example:

the country--the flat agricultural surround

Hypernyms ("surround" is a kind of...):

geographic area; geographic region; geographical area; geographical region (a demarcated area of the Earth)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "surround"):

medium (the surrounding environment)

scene; setting (the context and environment in which something is set)

element (the most favorable environment for a plant or animal)

habitat; home ground (the type of environment in which an organism or group normally lives or occurs)

melting pot (an environment in which many ideas and races are socially assimilated)

parts (the local environment)

ambiance; ambience (the atmosphere of an environment)

Derivation:

surround (surround with a wall in order to fortify)

surround (extend on all sides of simultaneously; encircle)

• SURROUND (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they surround    ... he / she / it surrounds   
Past simple: surrounded   
Past participle: surrounded   
-ing form: surrounding   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Extend on all sides of simultaneously; encircle

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

border; environ; ring; skirt; surround

Context example:

The forest surrounds my property

Hypernyms (to "surround" is one way to...):

adjoin; contact; meet; touch (be in direct physical contact with; make contact)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "surround"):

fringe (decorate with or as if with a surrounding fringe)

gird; girdle (put a girdle on or around)

cloister (surround with a cloister)

close in; enclose; inclose; shut in (surround completely)

hem in (surround in a restrictive manner)

cloister (surround with a cloister, as of a garden)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

surround; surroundings (the area in which something exists or lives)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Envelop completely

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

smother; surround

Context example:

smother the meat in gravy

Hypernyms (to "surround" is one way to...):

cover (provide with a covering or cause to be covered)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sense 3

Meaning:

Surround so as to force to give up

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Synonyms:

beleaguer; besiege; circumvent; hem in; surround

Context example:

The Turks besieged Vienna

Hypernyms (to "surround" is one way to...):

assail; attack (launch an attack or assault on; begin hostilities or start warfare with)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "surround"):

ebb (hem in fish with stakes and nets so as to prevent them from going back into the sea with the ebb)

blockade; seal off (impose a blockade on)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Surround with a wall in order to fortify

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Synonyms:

fence; fence in; palisade; surround; wall

Hypernyms (to "surround" is one way to...):

protect (shield from danger, injury, destruction, or damage)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "surround"):

stockade (surround with a stockade in order to fortify)

circumvallate (surround with or as if with a rampart or other fortification)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

surround (the area in which something exists or lives)

 Context examples 

It is characterized by the presence of a double layer of epithelial cells that are arranged in clefts, surrounded by a cellular, monomorphic spindle cell mesenchymal component.

(Benign Breast Phyllodes Tumor, NCI Thesaurus)

A rare congenital abnormality in which the duodenum is surrounded by a ring of pancreatic tissue.

(Annular Pancreas, NCI Thesaurus)

In or of the immediately surrounding area; relating to the immediate surroundings of something.

(Ambient, NCI Thesaurus)

Miss Elliot, surrounded by her cousins, and the principal object of Colonel Wallis's gallantry, was quite contented.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

So surrounded, so caressed, she was even happy!

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Macrophages surround and kill microorganisms, ingest foreign material, remove dead cells, and boost immune responses.

(Monocyte, NCI Dictionary)

The double membrane structure surrounding the mitochondrion and separating it from the cell cytoplasm.

(Mitochondrial Membrane, NCI Thesaurus)

We therefore blocked the entrance to our zareba by filling it up with several thorny bushes, and left our camp with the stores entirely surrounded by this protecting hedge.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The ligands are designed to transfer the energy from the nanocrystals to surrounding molecules.

(Making higher energy light to fight cancer, National Science Foundation)

Oh, sir, do you not think that you could help me, too, and at least throw a little light through the dense darkness which surrounds me?

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)