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 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 Instead, a bright ring of sunlight encircles the moon's silhouette, often called a 'ring of fire'. — Daisy Dobrijevic, Space.com, 20 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for encircles
  1. traverses
  2. surrounds
  3. circles
  4. orbits
  5. rings
  6. crosses
Verb
  • While the show fluidly traverses the years before and after it, dropping in on Hal and John at key moments in their lives, the investigation that puts the two men in buddy-cop mode unfolds in 2016, two decades after the William Tell scene.
    — Judy Berman, Time, 14 Aug. 2026
  • In your periphery to the left, a spacewalker traverses the exterior of the station.
    — Monisha Ravisetti, Space.com, 26 July 2026
Definition of traverses
Verb
  • Gus Birney, Shulman’s real-life daughter, brings an ineffable lightness to Sarah Nell, the joyfulness and sweetness of the portrayal all the more wondrous before of all the darkness that surrounds it.
    — Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 10 Aug. 2026
  • And yet, there’s a halo of chaos that surrounds Rhaenyra — an electric current of turmoil that’s too constant not to be her fault.
    — Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of surrounds
Verb
  • The job search can be a draining process, especially when applications go unanswered, AI hysteria circles the internet, and interviews end with little to no feedback.
    — Alyshia Hull, USA Today, 28 July 2026
  • Whenever the calendar comes out, Amanda Mendoza VanCleave circles the dates.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 23 July 2026
Definition of circles
Verb
  • The Perseids, like all meteors, are offshoots from comets, specifically the Swift-Tuttle Comet which orbits the Sun every 133 years.
    — Vince Basada, Sacbee.com, 12 Aug. 2026
  • The parent comet of the Perseids — the comet that sheds particles resulting in the meteor shower — is 109P/Swift-Tuttle, which orbits the sun about every 133 years.
    — Amen Galinato, CNN Money, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of orbits
Verb
  • The comeback saga rings ever so true for those in the movie theater industry, and for those millions of moviegoers who love to watch dazzling images on the huge silver screens of theaters.
    — Adam Aron, Variety, 29 July 2026
  • An old folk verse prices a simple life at two riyals for beans and one for bread — only half of that tune still rings true.
    — Manal Albarakati, semafor.com, 29 July 2026
Definition of rings
Verb
  • There will be another in 2052 that crosses the Southeast, including Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.
    — Mark Osborne, CBS News, 11 Aug. 2026
  • For content that crosses markets, that means building feedback loops into how AI operates.
    — Georg Ell, Forbes.com, 6 Aug. 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 18 Aug. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on encircles

Nglish: Translation of encircles for Spanish Speakers

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