around
- adverb
- /əˈraʊnd/
- It feels great to wander around a little bit.
- move around
- look around
- shop around
So a bat, as it flies around, is sending out clicks.
- So a bat, as it flies around, is sending out clicks.
- And those plates are kind of shifting around on IO.
- Boom, just tossing the ball around and then a sports towel.
- I can move it all around, change the colors.
- Got my car and I rode around just eating.
- Yeah, they walk around, do whatever they want.
- Take your call while you're walking around to reset things.
Examples
-
And my quip is, 'I'm not going to be around to see it.'
Academic text (2011) -
I can move it all around, change the colors.
-
Would you mind if I had a look around, sir?
-
And I can keep on pushing this around as much as I want.
-
Let's spread the challenge around, OK?
-
I'm just gonna look around, if that's okay.
-
There are lots of people rushing around, all of them pretty as a nutria.
Fiction book (1990) -
It feels great to wander around a little bit.
-
I often see my friends around town after school.
-
We explored the park, wandering around without a specific plan.
Synonyms
In or around a place, moving from one part to another
In a confused, disorganized way with things or thoughts scattered
In different places and not all together
Move around something following a curved path
In many different directions and places
Antonyms
Idioms
The most important thing that makes life keep going, like money or love
- Informal
A constant problem or responsibility that is hard to get rid of
To take part in a traditional May Day dance in a circle around a tall decorated pole
To sail around Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America, often in dangerous weather
To avoid saying something directly by talking a long time before answering
- Archaic
To talk or act in a long, roundabout way to avoid the main point
- Informal
Behaving as if you are the most important person and others do not matter
- Informal
Talk in a relaxed, joking way and make stories bigger to be funny
Compounds
- Specialized
Stopping an approach or attempt to try again, for example when a plane pulls up instead of landing
- Baby Talk
A children's game where players hold hands, walk in a circle, and fall down while singing
- NSFW
Money given during elections to get people to vote for a candidate or pay small local costs
- Baby Talk
A children's game where players hold hands in a circle, sing, and fall down
Negative ideas that lead people to treat those with mental health problems unfairly
How Wide
Surface Forms
Morphology
around = round (semi-transparent) = a + round
The connection to 'round' is recognizable, but this 'here and there' sense is a broader extension from circular or surrounding movement.
Etymology
Around comes from the old parts a- meaning 'on' and round meaning 'circle', so it originally meant being 'on the circle'. Think of walking here and there 'on the circle', and you get why around can mean moving to many different places without a clear direction.