around
- 1Approximately; close to a particular number, amount, or time without being exact.
The flight takes around seven hours from here.
She earns around fifty thousand dollars a year.
UsageBefore a number or time: around seven hours, at around 10; about means the same.
Similarabout, approximately, roughly, some
- 2At or to various places throughout a space or area.
The company now has offices around the world.
He spent the summer traveling around Europe.
Similarthroughout, across, round, about
- 3
- 4In a circle or closed curve that encloses something.
The protesters formed a tight ring around the building.
She wrapped a wool scarf around her neck.
Note
To be around something was to be on the circle of it: a chain on a neck, lilies ringing a statue, a meal around a campfire.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- The word's historical spatial meaning concerns a perimeter or circumference. en.wiktionary.org
- 5In or to various places, or among various people, often while exploring, searching, or making inquiries.
The tourists wandered around for the rest of the afternoon.
He drove around looking for somewhere to park.
UsageCommon with movement verbs: look around, walk around, drive around, move things around.
Similarabout
Note
Movement with no fixed route, and the adverbial partner of the 'throughout' preposition: wander around the town names the place, while wander around leaves it unsaid. It also carries things that spread, like rumors going around, and things shifted without leaving the room, as when furniture is moved around. In the American novelist Winston Churchill's The Celebrity (1897), a young lady looked around expectantly, with the eyes doing the traveling.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
- The Celebrity was written by the American novelist Winston Churchill. en.wikipedia.org
- First published in 1897, although the first edition was dated 1898. en.wikipedia.org
- The novel describes a young lady looking around expectantly. en.wiktionary.org
- 6Centered on a particular subject or theme; concerning it.
The novel is structured around a single grieving family.
Their debate revolved around tax policy.
UsageOften with revolve, center or debate: revolves around money; about simply names the topic.
Note
An abstract use that keeps the picture of the encircling meaning: talk gathers around a topic the way people gather around a campfire.
- 7
- 8Added to some verbs to show that time is spent idly or without achieving anything.
He wasted the whole morning fooling around online.
We just lounged around instead of studying for the exam.
UsageWith verbs of idling: fool around, mess around, sit around, hang around.
Similarabout
- 9Along the outer edge of an area and back to the starting point.
We walked all the way around the lake and ended up right back at the car.
The sailors raced around the island and returned to harbor.
Similarround
- 10So as to move in a circle or along a roughly circular path.
The cyclists rode around for one more lap.
The little plane circled around above the field.
Similarround
- 11Still living or in existence; not gone or dead.
Her great-grandmother is still around and tells wonderful stories.
Hardly any manual typewriters are around these days.
UsageCommon in still around and been around for a long time; of a person, still around gently means still alive.
- 12Along a path that curves past an object, keeping it to the inside of the bend.
The cyclist swept around the bend at high speed.
He guided the boat around the rocky point.
UsageCommon in around the corner; just around the corner can also mean coming soon.
Similarround
Note
A path that bends but does not close: unlike the full circuit, nothing here returns to its start. The road detours around a rock formation and then goes straight on. Georgette Heyer's The Unknown Ajax (1959) shows a common extension, peeping around an obstacle. There the line of sight, rather than the body, bends past the thing in the way.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
- Georgette Heyer wrote The Unknown Ajax, first published in 1959. en.wikipedia.org
- The Unknown Ajax contains an example of peeping around an obstacle. en.wiktionary.org
Less common meanings
- 13So as to rotate partly or fully, or to come to face the opposite direction.
He whirled around at the sound of footsteps.
Turn around so I can see the back of your jacket.
UsageMost often with turn, spin and whirl: turn around.
Note
Rotation on the spot rather than travel: the word marks a change in which way something faces, not a move to a new place. It can mean a full revolution, as in spun around a few times, or just a half-turn, as when a driver turns around at the end of a street and heads back.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- Turning around can involve movement through space, as when a vehicle reverses its direction of travel. nsw.gov.au
- 14Used to show a way of avoiding or getting past a difficulty or rule, or of managing in spite of it.
The engineers finally found a way around the software bug.
The company used a loophole to get around the new tax law.
UsageWith get, work or find a way: get around the rules; the noun is workaround, one word.
Note
A figurative detour: the obstacle stays where it is and you find a path past it.
- 15From one state, mood, or opinion to an opposite or very different one, often bringing agreement or awareness.
His parents slowly came around to the marriage.
A patient explanation won the skeptics around.
UsageCommon in come around to an idea and bring someone around, meaning persuade them or help them regain consciousness.
Note
Change pictured as a turn, borrowing the motion of turning to face the other way.
Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- The change-of-state sense uses a metaphorical change in direction. en.wiktionary.org
- 16So as to gather near something or close in upon it.
Reporters clustered around as she stepped out of the car.
As soon as the storyteller opened her book, the children crowded around to hear every word.
UsageCommon in gather around and crowd around; for miles around means in every direction.
- 17Into another order or arrangement, especially the reverse of the original, as when things are switched.
Swap the first two words around and the sentence reads better.
He thinks the cat chose him, but it was really the other way around.
UsageMostly in the other way around, or after swap, switch or turn: swap them around.
Showing meanings only.
More uses
- roll aroundto come again at its usual time, as in when summer rolls around
Practice
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Origin
From Middle English around, formed from the prefix a- (from Old English a-, "on, at") plus round ("circle"), which was borrowed from French. It is related to Scots aroond and replaced the earlier Middle English word umbe.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 7 facts
- Around derives from Middle English around. en.wiktionary.org
- The Middle English word was formed from a- plus round. en.wiktionary.org
- The prefix a- comes from Old English a-, meaning on or at. en.wiktionary.org
- Middle English round denoted a circle or round object. en.wiktionary.org
- Middle English round was borrowed from French. en.wiktionary.org
- Around is etymologically related to Scots aroond. en.wiktionary.org
- Around displaced the earlier Middle English word umbe. en.wiktionary.org