Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adverb On all sides.
  • adverb In close to all sides from all directions.
  • adverb In a circle or with a circular motion.
  • adverb In circumference or perimeter.
  • adverb In succession or rotation.
  • adverb In or toward the opposite direction or position.
  • adverb To or among various places; here and there.
  • adverb To a specific place.
  • adverb In or near one's current location.
  • adverb From the beginning to the end.
  • adverb Approximately; about.
  • preposition On all sides of.
  • preposition In such a position as to encircle or surround.
  • preposition Here and there within; throughout.
  • preposition In the immediate vicinity of; near.
  • preposition On or to the farther side of.
  • preposition So as to pass, bypass, or avoid.
  • preposition Approximately at.
  • preposition In such a way as to have a basis or center in.
  • adjective Being in existence.
  • adjective Being in evidence; present.
  • idiom (been around) Had many and varied experiences; been experienced in the ways of the world.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • In a circle or sphere; round about; on every side: as, a dense mist lay around.
  • From place to place; here and there; about: as, to travel around from city to city. [U. S.]
  • About; near: as, he waited around till the fight was over. [U. S.]
  • About; on all sides; encircling; encompassing.
  • From place to place; at random: as, to roam around the country. [U. S.]

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adverb In a circle; circularly; on every side; round.
  • adverb In a circuit; here and there within the surrounding space; all about.
  • adverb Colloq. U. S. Near; in the neighborhood.
  • preposition On all sides of; encircling; encompassing; so as to make the circuit of; about.
  • preposition Colloq. U. S. From one part to another of; at random through; about; on another side of

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • preposition Defining a circle or closed curve containing a thing.
  • preposition Following the perimeter of a specified area and returning to the starting point.
  • preposition Following a path which curves near an object, with the object on the inside of the curve
  • preposition time Near; in the vicinity of.
  • preposition At various places in.
  • adjective informal Alive; existing.
  • adverb Generally.
  • adverb From place to place, or from one place to another
  • adverb etc. Partially or completely rotated, including to face in the opposite direction.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adverb in circumference
  • adverb used of movement to or among many different places or in no particular direction
  • adverb to a particular destination either specified or understood
  • adverb (of quantities) imprecise but fairly close to correct
  • adverb all around or on all sides
  • adverb in a circle or circular motion

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English : probably a-, in; see a– + round, circle; see round.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English around, arounde, from a- (from Old English a- ("on, at")) + Middle English round ("circle, round"), equivalent to a- +‎ round. Cognate with Scots aroond, aroon ("around"). Displaced earlier Middle English umbe, embe ("around") (from Old English ymbe ("around")). See umbe.

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Examples

  • Moon-girl spins around& around  drunk on her outrageous momentum  as if she could make the world rotate

    The Green-Eyed Shwemyethna 2010

  • Which is stupid, considering the drivers around here A: Don't normally stop for people and in fact have been caught trying to sneak ~around~ them and B: I've been nicked several times and almost hit three times different instances last summer attempting to obey the biking laws, none of those for mistakes on my part as I've been scared shitless at the lack of aware driving that's crept over my town.

    The funny thing about Pain..... (Let's talk trauma!) Elizabeth McClung 2008

  • Which is, of course, the "classic" approach - well, at least around here - for free content: making money *around* the free stuff.

    Open Textbooks - An Idea Whose Time has Come? glyn moody 2008

  • But he missed the lesson about \'what goes around comes around\ '.

    OpEdNews - Quicklink: Uncurious George visits Vienna 2006

  • I wish I had not ever messed around with her because now every time we work together Danie thinks we are messing around… but were not… we just have fun being friends.

    goldenboy Diary Entry goldenboy 2006

  • You know, there are just certain things that can only be talked about with the girls. ** big smile** Mi querido showed up around 11: 30, and there were more daiquiris to go around…

    qdiosa Diary Entry qdiosa 2005

  • She's so fat when she lies around the house, she lies *around* the house.

    Balkinization 2004

  • And now spoons are descending from above, men are churning around and around .

    Middlesex Eugenides, Jeffery 2002

  • As he heard the clatter of hoofs behind him he looked around and saw a dozen red-skins coming in pursuit, and felt confident that he must have dashed by an ambush they were preparing for him, by suddenly changing his course and riding _around_ instead of _through_ a canyon.

    Beadle's Boy's Library of Sport, Story and Adventure, Vol. I, No. 1. Adventures of Buffalo Bill from Boyhood to Manhood Prentiss Ingraham

  • (link) *dances you around and around and around*(Reply to this) (Parent)

    seanan_mcguire: I...I...holy cats, people, IT'S A BOOK. seanan_mcguire 2009

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