ENCIRCLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does encircle mean? 

• ENCIRCLE (verb)
  The verb ENCIRCLE has 2 senses:

1. form or draw a circle around

2. bind with something round or circular

  Familiarity information: ENCIRCLE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ENCIRCLE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they encircle    ... he / she / it encircles   
Past simple: encircled   
Past participle: encircled   
-ing form: encircling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Form or draw a circle around

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

circle; encircle

Context example:

encircle the errors

Hypernyms (to "encircle" is one way to...):

form; shape (give shape or form to)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

encirclement (a war measure that isolates some area of importance to the enemy)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Bind with something round or circular

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

encircle; gird

Hypernyms (to "encircle" is one way to...):

bind (make fast; tie or secure, with or as if with a rope)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "encircle"):

hoop (bind or fasten with a hoop)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

 Context examples 

TOP2 normally conceals its cut DNA ends within the core of the TOP2 protein that encircles DNA.

(DNA damage caused by cancer treatment reversed by ZATT protein, National Institutes of Health)

Waves detected the signature emissions of the energetic particles that generate the massive auroras which encircle Jupiter's north pole.

(Jupiter's North Pole Unlike Anything Encountered in Solar System, NASA)

The Red Planet has been observed shrouded by planet-encircling dust nine times since 1924, with the five most recent planetary storms detected in 1977, 1982, 1994, 2001 and 2007.

(Study Predicts Next Global Dust Storm on Mars, NASA)

The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) has transformed our understanding of protoplanetary discs — the gas- and dust-filled planet factories that encircle young stars.

(ALMA Discovers Trio of Infant Planets around Newborn Star, ESO)

By its very nature, a black hole cannot be seen, but the hot disk of material that encircles it shines bright.

(Black Hole Image Makes History, NASA)

A ligament located in the lamina propria of the marginal gingiva that encircles the tooth.

(Circular Ligament of the Tooth, NCI Thesaurus)

Intraluminal hyperplasia of endothelial cells, encircling the entire lumen.

(Circumferential Endothelial Hyperplasia, NCI Thesaurus)

A morphologic finding that refers to the accumulation of glial cells encircling neurons in a tissue specimen.

(Perineuronal Satellitosis, NCI Thesaurus)

A morphologic finding that refers to the accumulation of glial cells encircling vessels in a tissue specimen.

(Perivascular Satellitosis, NCI Thesaurus)

A morphologic finding that refers to the accumulation of glial cells encircling neurons and/or vessels in a tissue specimen.

(Perineuronal and/or Perivascular Satellitosis, NCI Thesaurus)