Thesaurus results for ENCIRCLES

encircles

verb

present tense third-person singular of encircle

as in traverses

to travel completely around communication satellites encircling the earth

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

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 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 This 22-mile network of trails and parks is built along a historic railway corridor that encircles the city. — Lia Picard, AFAR Media, 29 Jan. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for encircles

Verb

In your periphery to the left, a spacewalker traverses the exterior of the station.

— Monisha Ravisetti, Space.com, 26 July 2026
The Golden State might be a West Coast utopia, but then Californians live on a fault line that traverses most of it.

— Charles Selle, Chicago Tribune, 20 July 2026

Definition of traverses

Verb

The stunning front entry makes a statement with an arched portico, columns, a bluestone walkway, stone surrounds and sidelights on both sides of the custom front door, all framed by hydrangeas and daylilies.

— Karen A. Avitabile, Hartford Courant, 26 July 2026
Imagine then having one of your testicles hit so hard that the tough fibrous tissue layer that surrounds the testicle gets torn open—kind of like tearing through an orange peel.

— Bruce Y. Lee, Forbes.com, 26 July 2026

Definition of surrounds

Verb

The large comet has a nucleus of 16 miles and orbits the sun every 133 years.

— Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 21 July 2026
Conversely, Earth also orbits the sun on an ellipse, so when our planet is at aphelion (its greatest solar distance), our star appears at its smallest in the sky, extending totality.

— Phil Plait, Scientific American, 17 July 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

Once a victim crosses a jurisdictional line, everything that happened on the other side of it too often gets lost in the nowhere land of bureaucracy and red tape.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 21 July 2026
The trail crosses Romania diagonally, running from the rural commune of Putna to the city of Drobeta-Turnu Severin.

— Gloria Liu, Travel + Leisure, 20 July 2026

Definition of crosses

Browse Nearby Words

encirclements

encircles

encircling

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Encircles.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/encircles. Accessed 4 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of encircles

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster on encircles

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

élan

Popular in Grammar & Usage

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

'Sneaked' or 'Snuck': Which is correct?

Why does English have so many silent letters?

Popular in Wordplay

Dutch Treat and French Leave: Eight Place-Based Compounds

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

How long is a jiffy?

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

Popular

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Dutch Treat and French Leave: Eight Place-Based Compounds

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Games & Quizzes