around
adverb
by a circular or circuitous route
- “He came all the way around the base”
- “the road goes around the pond”
to or among many different places or in no particular direction
- “wandering about with no place to go”
- “people were rushing about”
- “news gets around (or about)”
- “traveled around in Asia”
- “he needs advice from someone who”
- “;”
(of quantities) imprecise but fairly close to correct
- “lasted approximately an hour”
- “in just about a minute”
- “he”
- “;”
- “ve had about all I can stand”
- “we meet about once a month”
- “some forty people came”
- “weighs around a hundred pounds”
- “roughly $3,000”
- “holds 3 gallons, more or less”
- “20 or so people were at the party”
to a particular destination either specified or understood
- “she came around to see me”
- “I invited them around for supper”
from beginning to end; throughout
- “It rains all year round on Skye”
- “frigid weather the year around”
Origin
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”)).
Phrases
- a lie can run around the world before the truth can get its boots on
- albatross around one's neck
- all around
- around back
- around one's ears
- around Robin Hood's barn
- around the bend
- around the clock
- be around
Related words
Word family
WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.