plural -s
: the act or action of encircling, surrounding, or encompassing
the encirclement of the globe by an airplane
the encirclement of a wound by scar tissue
specifically
: the policy of one or more countries of gradually enveloping or isolating another country
ridden by the nightmare of encirclement —
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Yale Review Examples of encircle in a Sentence
Verb
A crowd of reporters encircled the mayor.
communication satellites encircling the earth
Recent Examples on the Web
Heidi Blake, New Yorker, 8 June 2026
Just under 300,000 years from the moment Homo sapiens appeared in Africa, the species had encircled Earth, mastering desolate deserts and frozen wastelands and all the temperate climes in between.
—Cody Cottier, Scientific American, 4 June 2026
Ten standalone spa villas (five for couples and five for singles) encircle a pool reserved only for spa guests.
—Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 June 2026
An activist investor was beginning to encircle the board, questioning, among other things, whether the new CEO, Hillary Super, could handle running a public company.
—Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 2 June 2026
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Verb
In the moment before his arms encircled me, there seemed to be no choice.
—Heidi Blake, New Yorker, 8 June 2026
Just under 300,000 years from the moment Homo sapiens appeared in Africa, the species had encircled Earth, mastering desolate deserts and frozen wastelands and all the temperate climes in between.
—Cody Cottier, Scientific American, 4 June 2026
Ten standalone spa villas (five for couples and five for singles) encircle a pool reserved only for spa guests.
—Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 June 2026
An activist investor was beginning to encircle the board, questioning, among other things, whether the new CEO, Hillary Super, could handle running a public company.
—Eva Roytburg, Fortune, 2 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for encircle
Cite this Entry
“Encircle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/encircle. Accessed 13 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
encircle
verb
en·cir·cle
in-ˈsər-kəl 
1
: to form a circle around : surround
2
: to go completely around
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