surrounding 1 of 2

adjective

as in encircling

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surrounding

2 of 2

verb

present participle of surround
as in encompassing
to form a circle around she was surrounded by cheering fans within moments of scoring the winning goal

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of surrounding
Adjective
The system, which serves 100,000 residents in Iowa City and its surrounding, mostly rural communities, typifies the challenges most libraries face. — Adeel Hassan, New York Times, 18 May 2026 Since then, the bustling market serves the surrounding and significant Latino community and others. — Susan Selasky, Freep.com, 26 Sep. 2025
Verb
Meanwhile, the soil surrounding the house is eroding and the structure is sinking. — William Earl, Variety, 8 Aug. 2026 Pride in our rising football team is already apparent across campus and is growing throughout the surrounding neighborhoods. — Monique Carroll, Chicago Tribune, 7 Aug. 2026 In lower-resolution images, the interface between a bundle of these magnetic fields and the surrounding granulation looks smooth and slightly blurry. — Jacek Krywko, ArsTechnica, 7 Aug. 2026 Legitimate Messages Must Outnumber Disinformation ​The information environment surrounding litigation requires active management. — Alona Karpinska, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2026 Pain-sensitive nerve endings surrounding the palate’s blood vessels activate branches of the trigeminal nerve, the major cranial nerve that carries sensory information about pain, touch, and temperature from the face and head to the brain. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 7 Aug. 2026 The backlash has prompted Meta to update its glasses to address privacy concerns, and some places have banned them, adding to the angst surrounding technology that’s rapidly evolving. — Queenie Wong, Los Angeles Times, 7 Aug. 2026 The service would then spread to surrounding neighborhoods such as South Natomas and Land Park. — Madison Smalstig july 31, Sacbee.com, 31 July 2026 That was illustrated by the massive media throng surrounding Indiana coach Curt Cignetti, just one table away from where Whittingham spoke to a slightly smaller crowd. — Austin Meek, New York Times, 31 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for surrounding
  1. embracing
  2. encircling
  3. connecting
  4. encompassing
  5. connected
  6. circling
  7. attached
  8. ringing
Adjective
  • The saints’ days are celebrated, the great days of history are celebrated, and they’re celebrated with this sort of enormous exuberance and deep investment that is somehow very, very touching, very embracing, and very inclusive.
    — Terry Ward, AFAR Media, 2 Sep. 2025
Definition of embracing
Verb
  • Champions Nigeria enter with 10 stars encircling the crest on their jerseys, having won 10 of the previous 13 WAFCONs, and looking to add an 11th.
    — Tamerra Griffin, New York Times, 26 July 2026
  • The stone is halo-set on a pavé band—jewelry lingo for having a ring of small white diamonds encircling the stone and covering the band.
    — Bailey Bujnosek, InStyle, 21 July 2026
Definition of encircling
Adjective
  • Znotins acknowledges that the airline makes prices for those non-connecting trips expensive to discourage non-connecting customers from booking them.
    — Talia Soglin, Chicago Tribune, 3 Apr. 2026
  • Gateway is modified to first repair the old 1910 tunnel immediately and construct a more economical new tunnel (without expensive and unneeded bench walls and cross-connecting passageways) and link it directly into Penn Station.
    — New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 16 Feb. 2026
Definition of connecting
Verb
  • Some of the attacks, both by organized Jewish groups and by individual writers, were more like hazing than criticism—vicious, personal, encompassing.
    — David Denby, New Yorker, 10 Aug. 2026
  • CFOs are often expected to assume an outsized mandate that extends well beyond traditional finance, encompassing both business and technological challenges and opportunities, according to Russell Reynolds Associates.
    — Sheryl Estrada, Fortune, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of encompassing
Adjective
  • The companies say the results could support future applications across military systems, industrial equipment, automotive technology, IoT devices, Physical AI and connected infrastructure.
    — Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 9 Aug. 2026
  • Just thinking about connecting to lineage, because we’re all connected to each other and we’re connected to our ancestors.
    — Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 9 Aug. 2026
Definition of connected
Verb
  • The captain of a lobster diving boat, Steven Del Sol, told officials that his vessel was anchored off Fisher Island when Simpson's Conch-brand boat allegedly approached him at high speed and began circling his boat, the arrest affidavit said.
    — Bill Hutchinson, ABC News, 7 Aug. 2026
  • Journal, rest, take a silent walk, or name the thought that keeps circling.
    — Tarot.com, Chicago Tribune, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of circling
Adjective
  • Just off the kitchen is a mudroom that leads to the attached three-car garage.
    — James Alexander, Hartford Courant, 9 Aug. 2026
  • Unlike conventional inhibitors, which must remain attached to continuously suppress their target, a single Setidegrasib molecule can trigger degradation of multiple KRAS proteins before being reused.
    — William A. Haseltine, Forbes.com, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of attached
Verb
  • The annual bell ringing ceremony was organized by Cupertino-Toyokawa Sister Cities Inc.
    — Anne Gelhaus, Mercury News, 11 Aug. 2026
  • At Target in Lowell on Sunday, registers were ringing as shoppers like Brenda Sieng could not wait to find the perfect back-to-school dress for her 10-year-old daughter Iliana who is heading into the fifth grade.
    — Paul Burton, CBS News, 9 Aug. 2026
Definition of ringing

Browse Nearby Words

surrounded
surrounding
surroundings
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Cite this Entry

“Surrounding.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/surrounding. Accessed 13 Aug. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of surrounding for Spanish Speakers

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