Surround Meaning
/səˈɹaʊnd/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo encircle something or simultaneously extend in all directions.
verbTo enclose or confine something on all sides so as to prevent escape.
Sentence Examples
Ropes surround the place.
Sometimes because of their atmospheres and sometimes because of the gases which surround them.
He always prefers to surround himself with girls.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The police decided to ____ the building to prevent anyone from escaping.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Tall mountains ____ the small village, protecting it from the strong winds that blow across the plains today.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *úp Proto-Indo-European *-er Proto-Indo-European *upér Proto-Italic *super Latin super Latin super- Latin unda Latin undō Late Latin superundōder. Middle French souronderbor. Middle English sourrounden English surround From Middle English sourrounden (“to submerge, overflow”), from Middle French souronder, suronder, from Late Latin superundō, from super + undō (“to rise in waves”), from unda (“wave”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The hovel stood in the centre of what had once been a vegetable garden, but was now a patch of rank weeds. Surrounding this, almost like a zareba, was an irregular ring of gorse and brambles, an unclaimed vestige of the original common."
— 1944, Miles Burton, chapter 5, in The Three Corpse Trick:
"It took a long time for the place to warm up and to counteract the cold and enable their fingers to cope with the delicate task of moulding, the men would often surround themselves with blocks of iron heated in the furnace."
— 1944 November and December, A Former Pupil, “Some Memories of Crewe Works—II”, in Railway Magazine, page 342:
"Sepia Delft tiles surrounded the fireplace, their crudely drawn Biblical scenes in faded cyclamen blending with the pinkish pine, while above them, instead of a mantelshelf, there was an archway high enough to form a balcony with slender balusters and a tapestry-hung wall behind."
— 1963, Margery Allingham, “Miss Thyrza’s Chair”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC, page 41:
"and this way they get rid of those grand and stubborn opinions that surround them."
— 2005, Plato, translated by Lesley Brown, Sophist, page 230c:
"The superficial fascia surrounds the body and includes subcutaneous fat; the deep fascia surrounds the musculoskeletal system; the meningeal fascia surrounds the nervous system; the visceral fascia surrounds body cavities and organs."
— 2018 November 8, Dr. Melina Jampolis, “The real science behind fascia ailments”, in CNN:
Explore More A2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The police decided to ____ the building to prevent anyone from escaping.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Tall mountains ____ the small village, protecting it from the strong winds that blow across the plains today.