around
Part of speech: prep
adj
adv
Morphological type: derivation
Etymology: From Middle English around, arounde, from a- (from Old English a- (“on, at”)) + Middle English round (“circle, round”) borrowed from French, equivalent to a- + round. Cognate with Scots aroond, aroon (“around”). Displaced earlier Middle English umbe, embe (“around”) (from Old English ymbe (“around”)).
Base: round
Affixes: a-
Inflected forms:
form: round
pos: prep
tags: alternative
form: arownd
pos: prep
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: ron
pos: prep
tags: alternative
form: 'round
pos: prep
tags: alternative
contraction
form: round
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: arownd
pos: adj
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: ron
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: 'round
pos: adj
tags: alternative
contraction
form: round
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: arownd
pos: adv
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: ron
pos: adv
tags: alternative
form: 'round
pos: adv
tags: alternative
contraction
Senses:
gloss: Forming a circle or closed curve containing (something).
pos: prep
examples: She wore a gold chain around her neck.
I planted a row of lilies around the statue.
The jackals began to gather around the carcass.
Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame. With more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to turn grist into meal.
gloss: Centred upon; surrounding; regarding.
pos: prep
examples: We could use some clarification around the new rules.
There has been a lot of controversy around the handling of personal information.
The use of algorithms in policing is one example of their increasing influence on our lives. And, as their ubiquity spreads, so too does the debate around whether we should allow ourselves to become so reliant on them – and who, if anyone, is policing their use.
gloss: Following the perimeter of a specified area and returning to the starting point.
pos: prep
examples: We walked around the football field.
She went around the track fifty times.
gloss: Following a path which curves near an object, with the object on the inside of the curve.
pos: prep
examples: The road took a brief detour around the large rock formation, then went straight on.
I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for. It twisted and turned, and, the first thing I knew, made a sudden bend around a bunch of bayberry scrub and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn.
But Richmond[…]appeared to lose himself in his own reflections. Some pickled crab, which he had not touched, had been removed with a damson pie; and his sister saw, peeping around the massive silver epergne that almost obscured him from her view, that he had eaten no more than a spoonful of that either.
gloss: Near; in the vicinity of.
pos: prep
examples: I left my keys somewhere around here.
I left the house around 10 this morning.
I don't want you around me.
gloss: At or to various places within or throughout.
pos: prep
examples: The pages from the notebook were scattered around the room.
Those teenagers like to hang around the mall.
She went around the office and got everyone to sign the card.
The estate agent showed me around the property.
Men that I knew around Wapatomac didn't wear high, shiny plug hats, nor yeller spring overcoats, nor carry canes with ivory heads as big as a catboat's anchor, as you might say.
gloss: So as to avoid something.
pos: prep
tags: figuratively
examples: Our product designs around the existing patents to avoid infringing them.
gloss: Present in the vicinity.
pos: adj
tags: informal
not-comparable
predicative
examples: Is Clare around today?
gloss: Alive; existing.
pos: adj
tags: informal
not-comparable
predicative
examples: The record store on Main Street? Yes, it's still around.
"How is old Bob? I heard that his health is failing." "Oh, he's still around. He's feeling better now."
Turbines have been around for a long time—windmills and water wheels are early examples. The name comes from the Latin turbo, meaning vortex, and thus the defining property of a turbine is that a fluid or gas turns the blades of a rotor, which is attached to a shaft that can perform useful work.
gloss: So as to form a circle or trace a circular path, or approximation thereof.
pos: adv
tags: not-comparable
examples: High above, vultures circled around.
gloss: So as to surround or be near.
pos: adv
tags: not-comparable
examples: Everybody please gather around.
There isn't another house for miles around.
gloss: Nearly; approximately; about.
pos: adv
tags: not-comparable
examples: Around a thousand people attended.
An adult elephant weighs around five tons.
gloss: From place to place.
pos: adv
tags: not-comparable
examples: There are rumors going around that the company is bankrupt.
Look around and see what you find.
We moved the furniture around in the living room.
Then came a maid with hand-bag and shawls, and after her a tall young lady.[…]She looked around expectantly, and recognizing Mrs. Cooke's maid[…]Miss Thorn greeted her with a smile which greatly prepossessed us in her favor.
Of all the transitions brought about on the Earth’s surface by temperature change, the melting of ice into water is the starkest. It is binary. And for the land beneath, the air above and the life around, it changes everything.
gloss: From one state or condition to an opposite or very different one; with a metaphorical change in direction; bringing about awareness or agreement.
pos: adv
tags: not-comparable
examples: The team wasn't doing well, but the new coach really turned things around.
He used to stay up late but his new girlfriend changed that around.
The patient was unconscious but the doctor brought him around quickly.
I didn't think he would ever like the new design, but eventually we brought him around.
gloss: So as to partially or completely rotate; so as to face in the opposite direction.
pos: adv
tags: not-comparable
usually
examples: Turn around at the end of this street.
She spun around a few times.
gloss: Used with verbs to indicate repeated or continuous action, or in numerous locations or with numerous people.
pos: adv
tags: not-comparable
examples: I asked around, and no-one really liked it.
Shopping around can get you a better deal.
When are you going to stop whoring around, find a nice girl, and give us grandchildren?
gloss: Used with certain verbs to suggest unproductive activity.
pos: adv
tags: not-comparable
examples: sit around, mess around, loaf around
Related words: round
about
Derived words: albatross around one's neck
a lie can run around the world before the truth can get its boots on
all around
all-around
around back
aroundness
around one's ears
around Robin Hood's barn
around the bend
around-the-clock
around the clock
around the corner
around the Horn
around the horn
around the traps
around the way
around the wicket
around the world
bag around one's eye
bag around the eye
bat around
beat around the bush
bop around
bowled around the legs
bugger around
bust around
come-around
crap around
dance around
dial-around
dig around
enough to go around
flute around
frig around
fuss around
get around
get one's arms around
get one's head around
go all around the houses
go all around the Wrekin
go-around
go around
go around the houses
go around with
green around the gills
hack around
hand around
hang around
hang-around
have been around
have been around the block
hedge around
hell around
hoe around
honey around
jazz around
jive around
kickaround
kite around
lark around
lead around by the nose
leg around
loll around
long way around
lush around
management by walking around
millstone around one's neck
mouse around
order around
plenty to go around
putz around
rally around the flag
reach-around
read-around ratio
revolve around
ring-around-the-rosy
rough around the edges
round
run around
run-around
runaround
run circles around
run rings around
send around
shootaround
shoot around
shove around
skate around
skate-around
skirt around
slap around
sneak around
splash around
square around
swing one's dick around
the clock around
the long way around the barn
therearound
think the world revolves around one
throw nickels around like manhole covers
turn around
turnaround
twist around one's little finger
up and around
walkaround
walk-around money
walk around money
walking-around money
wherearound
whip-around
wind around one's little finger
workaround
wrap-around
wrap around one's little finger
wrap around
wraparound
wrap one's arms around
wrap one's brain around
wrap one's head around
wrap one's mind around
write-around
be around
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