be around

verb

To be alive, existent, or present.

“You're fun to be around.”

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Meanings

verbbe around (third-person singular simple present is around, present participle being around, simple past was around, past participle been around)

present singular third person is around · participle present being around · past was around · participle past been around

  1. idiomaticintransitivestativeTo be alive, existent, or present.

    I'll be around for another hour or so.

    4 more examples

    This restaurant has been around since 1938.

    The article said that dinos were around for about 250 million years.

    Well, sir, you remember this young Georgie sort of disappeared, after his grandfather's death, and nobody seemed to know much what had become of him—though I did hear, once or twice, that he was still around somewhere.

    1918, Booth Tarkington, chapter 34, in The Magnificent Ambersons

    The New York-style hot dog I love has been around for well over a hundred years.

    2005 May 25, Ed Levine, “It's All in How the Dog Is Served”, in New York Times, retrieved 01 Jan 2009
  2. idiomatictransitiveTo be near; to socialize with.

    You're fun to be around.

Translations

Spanish andar con, con... andar
  • andar conto be near; to socialize with
  • con... andarto be near; to socialize with
Cite this entry
APA

be around. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/be%20around

MLA

“be around.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/be%20around. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “be around,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/be%20around.

Source: be around on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.