circling 1 of 2

adjective

as in swirling

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circling

2 of 2

verb

present participle of circle
1
as in surrounding
to form a circle around everyone circled the lectern and waited their turn to read from the Bible

Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in orbiting
to travel completely around with a look of extreme frustration, the commander circled the new recruit

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 circling
Verb
Lavin points to a franchise staple as the moment worth circling. — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 2 Sep. 2026 Sketch the logo, share the joke, test the recipe, or try whatever has been circling your imagination. — Tarot.com, Baltimore Sun, 2 Sep. 2026 Once back at the beach, Bellin saw the otter circling the area and drove herself to the hospital. — Michelle Del Rey, USA Today, 1 Sep. 2026 Explore See latest videos, charts and news Drizzy has seemingly been circling for an entry point into country music. — Michael Saponara, Billboard, 31 Aug. 2026 Plaintiffs’ firms are circling Carhartt and Dick’s Sporting Goods for two very different reasons. — Alexandra Harrell, Footwear News, 31 Aug. 2026 There must have been a hundred of us there, circling the truck, clambering onto its hood, shuffling and shimmying and twerking with abandon. — Taran Dugal, New Yorker, 30 Aug. 2026 The trio lived and worked in space for 245 days, circling Earth 3,920 times and traveling a total of nearly 104 million miles (167 million kilometers), according to NASA. — Mike Wall, Space.com, 27 Aug. 2026 The spec script has the potential as a strong vehicle for an actress, and at least one is already circling. — Mike Fleming Jr, Deadline, 26 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for circling
  1. swirling
  2. surrounding
  3. orbiting
  4. spiral
  5. encircling
  6. traversing
  7. spiraling
  8. crossing
Adjective
  • Irresistible lure In a swirling age of coast-to-coast railroad mergers, the freight tracks that run through Barrington are suddenly one of the hottest stretches of track in North America.
    — John Lippert, Chicago Tribune, 6 Sep. 2026
  • The announcement comes amid a swirling debate around the role AI should play in how students across the country learn, and how parents and educators can best set kids up for future success.
    — Tom Huddleston Jr., CNBC, 5 Sep. 2026
Definition of swirling
Verb
  • Other issues surrounding the league — including player safety, the eligibility of transgender players, and the inconsistency of on-court officials — have caused some to question Engelbert’s leadership ability.
    — Chuck Schilken, Los Angeles Times, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Suresh Raut, deputy manager at the Nepal Electricity Authority, who was at the rescue site when the body was discovered, said an 11-man team, including relatives of the missing, has been dispatched to search the surrounding area.
    — Sana Noor Haq, CNN Money, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of surrounding
Verb
  • The early days of our solar system were chaotic, marked by violent interactions as a multitude of space rocks orbiting the sun crashed into other objects.
    — Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 10 Sep. 2026
  • While no exoplanet has been definitively proven to have a global ocean, there are candidates like TOI-1452 b — a super-Earth orbiting a red dwarf star — that could contain a much larger proportion of water than Earth.
    — Alix Freckelton, Space.com, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of orbiting
Adjective
  • That salon, Mayfair, became the setting for a film that follows Zaineen (Zaineen Chowdhury Karim), a bride-to-be whose wedding preparations spiral into a battle with her own body.
    — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 5 Sep. 2026
  • During his testimony, the prosecution produced a spiral notebook in which Clancy had left instructions for caretakers on when to put down the baby, which vegetables to prepare for dinner, how to cut up the sweet potatoes.
    — Eren Orbey, New Yorker, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of spiral
Verb
  • Dumas watched, charmed, his arms encircling his wife’s shoulders, and accepted an ice-cream sundae in a silver parfait cup.
    — Lauren Collins, New Yorker, 7 Sep. 2026
  • There are no bleachers, so spectators set up lawn chairs encircling the field.
    — Kelenna Onukwugha, Christian Science Monitor, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of encircling
Verb
  • And yet the nugget of knowledge from his vast experience of traversing 120 yards (110 metres) via two 60-yard lengths in a trench – dug 4ft deep and 3ft wide in a Welsh field – filled with murky, mucky river water is not a tip about technique.
    — Rob Tanner, New York Times, 3 Sep. 2026
  • In a satiric short video, Rabid Dogs, 2002, for example, white-collar workers dress upas rapacious canines, clutching Burberry bags in their mouths and traversing cubicles on all fours.
    — Pablo Larios, Artforum, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of traversing
Adjective
  • Libfeld brought a massive, spiraling kudu horn to practice with at a recent Torat Emet shofar class.
    — Lois K. Solomon, Sun Sentinel, 27 Aug. 2026
  • Aside from a spiraling Wanda, there was also an onslaught of high-profile cameos, which almost felt like fandom wish fulfillment designed to keep us entertained when Wanda wasn’t around.
    — EW Staff, Entertainment Weekly, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of spiraling
Verb
  • The backlash comes as anti-immigrant sentiments bubble to the surface in some parts of the country – despite the number of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats falling to its lowest level since 2020, according to the Home Office.
    — Billy Stockwell, CNN Money, 10 Sep. 2026
  • This has democratized expression by allowing ordinary people to speak, crossing the silos of traditional boundaries.
    — Sindhu Bhaskar, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of crossing

Browse Nearby Words

circlets
circling
circuit
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Cite this Entry

“Circling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/circling. Accessed 12 Sep. 2026.

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