Encircle

//ɪnˈsɜːkl̩// verb

verb ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To surround, form a circle around. transitive

    ""Friday!" she called out, bursting open the doors and quickly encircling her friend in the warmth of her arms."

  2. 2
    bind with something round or circular wordnet
  3. 3
    To move or go around completely. transitive

    "It is also customary in the Orient and among Sephardim for the mourners to encircle the coffin of an erudite person seven times and recite Yoshayv besayter while making each circuit."

  4. 4
    form or draw a circle around wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
girdadmitassimilatebandbegirdbeleaguer

Example

More examples

"This is why Lounis Aït-Menguellet sings “You took away misery, it gave birth to twins; you have broken your chains, they have turned to encircle you even more ...” Listen to him."

Etymology

From en- + circle.

More for "encircle"

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.