(surrounds, surrounding, surrounded)
Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.
1.
If a person or thing is surrounded by something, that thing is situated all around them.
The small churchyard was surrounded by a rusted wrought-iron fence...
The shell surrounding the egg has many important functions.
...the snipers and artillerymen in the surrounding hills.
VERB: be V-ed, V n, V-ing
2.
If you are surrounded by soldiers or police, they spread out so that they are in positions all the way around you.
When the car stopped in the town square it was surrounded by soldiers and militiamen...
He tried to run away but gave up when he found himself surrounded...
= encircle
VERB: be V-ed, V-ed
3.
The circumstances, feelings, or ideas which surround something are those that are closely associated with it.
The decision had been agreed in principle before today's meeting, but some controversy surrounded it...
VERB: V n
4.
If you surround yourself with certain people or things, you make sure that you have a lot of them near you all the time.
He had made it his business to surround himself with a hand-picked group of bright young officers...
They love being surrounded by familiar possessions.
VERB: V n with/by n, V n with/by n