encircles

verb

present tense third-person singular of encircle
1
as in traverses
to travel completely around communication satellites encircling the earth

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in surrounds
to form a circle around immediately after announcing their engagement, the couple was encircled by their applauding friends

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 encircles In May, the Georgia Department of Transportation closed a major section of the road, which encircles the city of Atlanta and connects much of the greater metro area, sending both intra- and interstate traffic through the city. — Irene Wright, USA Today, 25 Aug. 2026 The paint color that encircles the wallpaper is important, but Chloe Redmond Warner says the bread should be the least exciting part of this sandwich. — Kelsey Mulvey, Vogue, 6 Aug. 2026 The butterfly encircles Larsson's eye, with its wings spanning the whole area from her inner brow to well past its tip. — Kara Nesvig, Allure, 6 July 2026 In the center of Washington Park is a lagoon, which once weaved in a crescent shape around a peninsula in a configuration that annoyed boaters, but now encircles a central island called Bynum Island. — Adam Harrington, CBS News, 15 June 2026 The Chicago Outerbelt, a 210-mile trail that encircles the city, intrigued our copy editor. — Diane Penningroth, Midwest Living, 12 June 2026 Many travelers choose to explore the area via the Ring of Kerry, the scenic drive that encircles the peninsula. — Lydia Mansel, Travel + Leisure, 29 May 2026 The tubing with inline emitters, shown at bottom, encircles a citrus. — Steve Bender, Southern Living, 29 Apr. 2026 The polar jet stream is a ribbon of air that encircles the Northern Hemisphere at high altitudes and determines atmospheric pressure patterns. — Evan Bush, NBC news, 28 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for encircles
  1. traverses
  2. surrounds
  3. circles
  4. orbits
  5. rings
  6. crosses
Verb
  • The Carolinian line heads from Charlotte to Raleigh and up the coast to New York City, and the Piedmont line traverses North Carolina.
    — Eva Flowe October 9, Charlotte Observer, 9 Oct. 2026
  • This fourth full-length from the London jazz quintet traverses Black diasporic sound traditions — grime, reggae, Afrobeat — mulling over the question of how music so joyous can be rooted in histories of pain.
    — Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of traverses
Verb
  • Visceral fat — which lies deep within the abdomen and surrounds internal organs — has also been linked to a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, Cleveland Clinic states.
    — Melissa Rudy, FOXNews.com, 17 Oct. 2026
  • Their most vulnerable conversation surrounds his recent MS diagnosis.
    — Emma Sharpe, Vulture, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of surrounds
Verb
  • Cassiopeia circles Polaris as Earth rotates, so its orientation changes through the night.
    — Jamie Carter, Space.com, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Separately in the episode, River (Jack Lowden) and Sid (Olivia Cooke) are on the run from a pair of assassins, while the rest of the team circles the wagons en route to a safe house.
    — Lisa de los Reyes, HollywoodReporter, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of circles
Verb
  • Viewed from a distance, the steady feeding process would proceed like a triangle as the victim brown dwarf orbits the star that is eating it.
    — Robert Lea, Space.com, 8 Oct. 2026
  • The new definition of a planet, according to Nat Geo, is an object that orbits the Sun, is large enough to have become round (due to the force of its own gravity) and dominates the neighborhood around its orbit.
    — Victoria Edel, PEOPLE, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of orbits
Verb
  • Much like a tuning fork, the resonator also rings when struck.
    — Ameya Paleja, Interesting Engineering, 17 Sep. 2026
  • Well, that promise now rings hollow in the ears of every TSA worker today.
    — Hydrick Thomas, New York Daily News, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of rings
Verb
  • Verification, Tambe said, gets more complicated when an agent’s work crosses organizational functions.
    — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Each fall, Earth crosses different parts of this sprawling debris stream, producing the overlapping Northern and Southern Taurids and, occasionally, the larger fragments that create spectacular fireballs.
    — Jamie Carter, Space.com, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of crosses

Browse Nearby Words

encirclements
encircles
encircling
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Cite this Entry

“Encircles.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/encircles. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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