surrounds

1. 1
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of surround.

   A thick stone wall surrounds the old castle.

   Dense forest surrounds the village on all sides.

   Note

   Every living meaning of the verb is transitive, so this form needs an object: the wall surrounds the castle. When the enclosed thing comes first, the passive takes over: the castle is surrounded by a wall. An older meaning, to travel around or circumnavigate, is now obsolete. Today the verb means either to encircle or to hem in so as to prevent escape.

2. 2
   nounplural

   The things bordering, adjacent to, or near something else; the area around it.

   The hotel boasts stunning natural surrounds, with mountains rising on every side.

   Visitors admired the tranquil surrounds of the old monastery.

   Similarsurroundings, setting, environs, environment

   Note

   A noun that exists only in the plural. In this meaning you say the surrounds are, never the surround is. It works much like surroundings and pairs naturally with a place, as in a guide to the city and surrounds. The same spelling is also the present-tense verb, so a phrase like "forest surrounds" can be read either way until the rest of the sentence settles it.

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