encircling 1 of 2

adjective

as in surrounding

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encircling

2 of 2

verb

present participle of encircle
1
as in circling
to travel completely around communication satellites encircling the earth

Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in encompassing
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 encircling
Verb
Champions Nigeria enter with 10 stars encircling the crest on their jerseys, having won 10 of the previous 13 WAFCONs, and looking to add an 11th. — Tamerra Griffin, New York Times, 26 July 2026 The stone is halo-set on a pavé band—jewelry lingo for having a ring of small white diamonds encircling the stone and covering the band. — Bailey Bujnosek, InStyle, 21 July 2026 Cheers roared from the crowd encircling the concrete arena as two skateboarders slammed into each other at top speed. — Miami Herald, 25 June 2026 Styled by Brad Goreski, Moore wore a custom cobalt blue Self Portrait gown with an oversized bow encircling the hips, falling into a train. — Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 22 May 2026 Bad weather postponed a major construction project on Atlanta's primary highway encircling the city last weekend, but now the traffic chaos is here. — Irene Wright, USA Today, 15 May 2026 By using drones to interdict supply lines from a distance, Ukrainian forces can impose the effects of a siege without physically encircling a city, redefining how an opponent can be isolated in modern warfare. — Vikram Mittal, Forbes.com, 14 May 2026 Heck, even the names in the Ring of Honor encircling the stadium between its decks will be vulnerable to being cloaked by FIFA branding or advertising signage. — Kansas City Star, 12 May 2026 Chopard’s charming—and chiming—Beehive Clock, a table clock standing nearly a foot tall with seven tiers of rounded glass segments encircling a multi-level mechanical movement, stood out among the new releases for the same reason the Nautilus desk watch (Ref. — Victoria Gomelsky, Robb Report, 11 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for encircling
  1. surrounding
  2. circling
  3. embracing
  4. orbiting
  5. connecting
  6. traversing
  7. joined
  8. attached
Adjective
  • The system, which serves 100,000 residents in Iowa City and its surrounding, mostly rural communities, typifies the challenges most libraries face.
    — Adeel Hassan, New York Times, 18 May 2026
  • Since then, the bustling market serves the surrounding and significant Latino community and others.
    — Susan Selasky, Freep.com, 26 Sep. 2025
Definition of surrounding
Verb
  • Any brand watching the next mega‑event after this FIFA World Cup should assume there’s a second economy circling the core spectacle and design for it on purpose.
    — Lilian Raji, Forbes.com, 23 July 2026
  • The pilots in the Delta Boeing 737 saw the potential collision and aborted their landing, eventually circling the airport before safely touching down.
    — Aaron Cooper, CNN Money, 23 July 2026
Definition of circling
Adjective
  • The saints’ days are celebrated, the great days of history are celebrated, and they’re celebrated with this sort of enormous exuberance and deep investment that is somehow very, very touching, very embracing, and very inclusive.
    — Terry Ward, AFAR Media, 2 Sep. 2025
Definition of embracing
Verb
  • Since January 2025, a portion of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket has been orbiting high above Earth, taking 26 days to complete one trip around the planet.
    — Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 30 July 2026
  • When two galaxies merge, their black holes typically form a binary pair, orbiting each other at the center of the single postmerger galaxy.
    — Mary Randolph, Scientific American, 29 July 2026
Definition of orbiting
Adjective
  • Znotins acknowledges that the airline makes prices for those non-connecting trips expensive to discourage non-connecting customers from booking them.
    — Talia Soglin, Chicago Tribune, 3 Apr. 2026
  • Gateway is modified to first repair the old 1910 tunnel immediately and construct a more economical new tunnel (without expensive and unneeded bench walls and cross-connecting passageways) and link it directly into Penn Station.
    — New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 16 Feb. 2026
Definition of connecting
Verb
  • But that low ride height is going to make any actual trail traversing pretty challenging.
    — Andrew P. Collins, The Drive, 22 July 2026
  • Using a monolithic design eliminates the latency penalties associated with traversing multiple chiplets, while simultaneously delivering roughly three times greater core-to-core bandwidth.
    — Marco Chiappetta, Forbes.com, 21 July 2026
Definition of traversing
Adjective
  • Kar, the company’s CEO, was a founding team member at Palo Alto Networks and oversaw Juniper Networks’ entire Ethernet portfolio before the two joined forces at Auradine, a blockchain and AI chip startup where Upscale was incubated.
    — Lily Mae Lazarus, Fortune, 22 June 2026
  • The 28-year-old has won eight Grands Prix across nine seasons for Ferrari, having initially joined the joined the Ferrari Driver Academy in 2016.
    — Luke Smith, New York Times, 3 June 2026
Definition of joined
Adjective
  • Rounding it all off is an attached three-car garage, plus an annual $3,983 association fee covering essential subdivision management.
    — Wendy Bowman, Robb Report, 27 July 2026
  • The final version mostly holds itself together, though the front bezel requires either some electrical tape or a couple dabs of superglue to stay attached.
    — Lee Hutchinson, ArsTechnica, 23 July 2026
Definition of attached

Browse Nearby Words

encircles
encircling
enclasp
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Cite this Entry

“Encircling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/encircling. Accessed 31 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on encircling

Nglish: Translation of encircling for Spanish Speakers

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