SURROUND

environment, environs, surroundings, surround

(noun) the area in which something exists or lives; “the country--the flat agricultural surround”

besiege, beleaguer, surround, hem in, circumvent

(verb) surround so as to force to give up; “The Turks besieged Vienna”

wall, palisade, fence, fence in, surround

(verb) surround with a wall in order to fortify

surround, environ, ring, skirt, border

(verb) extend on all sides of simultaneously; encircle; “The forest surrounds my property”

smother, surround

(verb) envelop completely; “smother the meat in gravy”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Verb

surround (third-person singular simple present surrounds, present participle surrounding, simple past and past participle surrounded)

(transitive) To encircle something or simultaneously extend in all directions.

(transitive) To enclose or confine something on all sides so as to prevent escape.

(transitive, obsolete) To pass around; to travel about; to circumnavigate.

Synonyms

• bebay

• beleaguer

• beset

Noun

surround (plural surrounds)

(British) Anything, such as a fence or border, that surrounds something.

Source: Wiktionary

Sur*round", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Surrounded; p. pr. & vb. n. Surrounding.] Etym: [OF. suronder to overflow, LL. superundare; fr. L. super over + undare to rise in waves, overflow, fr. unda wave. The English sense is due to the influence of E. round. See Super-, and Undulate, and cf. Abound.]

1. To inclose on all sides; to encompass; to environ.

2. To lie or be on all sides of; to encircle; as, a wall surrounds the city. But could instead, and ever-during dark Surrounds me. Milton.

3. To pass around; to travel about; to circumnavigate; as, to surround the world. [Obs.] Fuller.

4. (Mil.)

Definition: To inclose, as a body of troops, between hostile forces, so as to cut off means of communication or retreat; to invest, as a city.

Syn.

– To encompass; encircle; environ; invest; hem in; fence about.

Sur*round", n.

Definition: A method of hunting some animals, as the buffalo, by surrounding a herd, and driving them over a precipice, into a ravine, etc. [U.S.] Baird.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition