around

alternative round · alternative obsolete arownd · alternative ron · alternative contraction 'round

1. Forming a circle or closed curve containing (something).

   She wore a gold chain around her neck.

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   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.

   2013 July-August, Henry Petroski, “Geothermal Energy”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4

   Synonyms: environ

2. Centred upon; surrounding; regarding.

   We could use some clarification around the new rules.

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   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.

   2013 July 26, Leo Hickman, “How algorithms rule the world”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 7, page 26

   Synonyms: environ

3. Following the perimeter of a specified area and returning to the starting point.

   We walked around the football field.

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   She went around the track fifty times.

4. Following a path which curves near an object, with the object on the inside of the curve.

   The road took a brief detour around the large rock formation, then went straight on.

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   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.

   1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC

   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.

   1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax

5. Near; in the vicinity of; approximately.

   I don't want you around me.

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   I left my keys somewhere around here.

   I left the house around 10 this morning.

6. At or to various places within or throughout.

   Those teenagers like to hang around the mall.

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   The pages from the notebook were scattered around the room.

   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.

   1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter X, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC

7. figurativelySo as to avoid something.

   Our product designs around the existing patents to avoid infringing them.

alternative round · alternative obsolete arownd · alternative ron · alternative contraction 'round

1. informalnot comparablepredicativePresent in the vicinity.

   Is Clare around today?

2. informalnot comparablepredicativeAlive; existing.

   The record store on Main Street? Yes, it's still around.

   2 more examples

   "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.

   2013 July-August, Lee S. Langston, “The Adaptable Gas Turbine”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)

alternative round · alternative obsolete arownd · alternative ron · alternative contraction 'round

1. not comparableSo as to form a circle or trace a circular path, or approximation thereof.

   High above, vultures circled around.

2. not comparableSo as to surround or be near.

   Everybody please gather around.

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   There isn't another house for miles around.

3. not comparableNearly; approximately; about.

   Around a thousand people attended.

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   An adult elephant weighs around five tons.

4. not comparableFrom place to place.

   Look around and see what you find.

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   There are rumors going around that the company is bankrupt.

   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.

   1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC

   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.

   2013 May 11, “The climate of Tibet: Pole-land”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8835, page 80

   Lily glanced around to make sure nobody else had overheard.

   2021, Malinda Lo, Last Night at the Telegraph Club, Dutton Books for Young Readers, page 25

5. not comparableFrom one state or condition to an opposite or very different one; with a metaphorical change in direction; bringing about awareness or agreement.

   He used to stay up late but his new girlfriend changed that around.

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   The team wasn't doing well, but the new coach really turned things 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.

6. not comparableusuallyspinSo as to partially or completely rotate; so as to face in the opposite direction.

   She spun around a few times.

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   Turn around at the end of this street.

7. not comparableUsed with verbs to indicate repeated or continuous action, or in numerous locations or with numerous people.

   Shopping around can get you a better deal.

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   I asked around, and no-one really liked it.

   When are you going to stop whoring around, find a nice girl, and give us grandchildren?

8. not comparableUsed with certain verbs to suggest unproductive activity.

   sit around, mess around, loaf around