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surround

 - 3 dictionary results

sur⋅round

  [suh-round]
Use surround in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to enclose on all sides; encompass: She was surrounded by reporters.
2. to form an enclosure round; encircle: A stone wall surrounds the estate.
3. to enclose (a body of troops, a fort or town, etc.) so as to cut off communication or retreat.
–noun
4. something that surrounds, as the area, border, etc., around an object or central space: a tile surround for the shower stall.
5. environment or setting: The designer created a Persian surround for the new restaurant.
6. Hunting.
a. a means of hunting in which wild animals are encircled and chased into a special spot that makes their escape impossible.
b. the act of hunting by this means.
c. the location encircled by hunters using this means.
Origin:
1400–50; late ME surounden to inundate, submerge < AF surounder, MF s(o)ronder < LL superundāre to overflow, equiv. to L super- super- + undāre to flood, deriv. of unda wave (see undulate ); current sp. by analysis as sur- 1 + round 1 (v.)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To surround
sur·round   (sə-round')   
tr.v.   sur·round·ed, sur·round·ing, sur·rounds

  1. To extend on all sides of simultaneously; encircle.

  2. To enclose or confine on all sides so as to bar escape or outside communication.

n.  

  1. Something, such as fencing or a border, that surrounds: a fireplace surround.

    1. The area around a thing or place: inflammation extending to the surround of the eye.

    2. Surroundings; environment: "It was the country, the flat agricultural surround, that so ravished me" (Listener).

  3. A method of hunting wild animals by surrounding them and driving them to a place from which they cannot escape.


[Middle English surrounden, to inundate, from Old French suronder, from Late Latin superundāre : Latin super-, super- + Latin undāre, to rise in waves (from unda, wave; see wed-1 in Indo-European roots).]
Synonyms: These verbs mean to lie around and bound on all sides: Suburbs surround the city. A crown circled the king's head. Fog compassed the mountain peak. A belt encircled her waist. A lake encompassed the island. The desert environed the oases. A deep moat girds the castle. Flower gardens girdled the bird bath. Guests ringed the coffee table.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

surround 
1423, "to flood, overflow," from M.Fr. soronder "to overflow, abound, surpass, dominate," from L.L. superundare "overflow," from L. super "over" (see super-) + undare "to flow in waves," from unda "wave" (see water; and cf. abound). Sense of "to shut in on all sides" first recorded 1616, influenced by figurative meaning in Fr. of "dominate," and by sound association with round. First record of surroundings in sense of "environment" is from 1861.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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