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surrounded - 2 dictionary results

sur⋅round

  [suh-round]
Use surrounded 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 surrounded
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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