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🌀 To avoid cleverly ⚔️ To surround
to circumvent

to circumvent

1 8.2
To surround an enemy to make them give up
  • verb
  • /sɜrˈkʌmˌvɛnt/
  • Archaic
translation icon : asediar
  • The general devised a plan to circumvent the enemy's defenses by attacking from the rear.

Oxes mundi, the centre is circumvented by a form.

Examples

  • The troops managed to circumvent the enemy forces by surrounding their camp at dawn.

  • When they did not, he decided it was time to return to the Gentleman's Hall and give a full report. Before nightfall, he was back on the docks, indulging himself at the expense of the many guards Pieraccinni employed as he circumvented their best efforts to keep out intruders.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • Paris circumvented by walls, one stretching further out than the other.

  • Oxes mundi, the centre is circumvented by a form.

    MIT OpenCourseWare

  • Those who've previously postulated that weapons confiscation would be the last straw have been circumvented.

    Blog text (12)

  • Azerbaijan is the origin of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline that circumvents Russia and transports Caspian oil to the West.

    Blog text (3)

  • Clearly, Senzei was trying to determine who—or what—might have circumvented Ciani's defenses.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • We will march out, circumventing Santa Anna's army, and relieve the Alamo from the west, withdrawing back to the Colorado and establishing on a line southeast from Beason's Crossing to Brazoria.

    The Alamo (2004)

  • To force a surrender, they decided to circumvent the enemy stronghold and cut off their supplies.

Synonyms

to surround
vsto circumvent
∞ 1.7

To be all around a person or thing on every side

is the military enclosing action aimed to force surrender, not general all-around presence
to besiege
vsto circumvent
19 8.3

To surround a place with soldiers until the people inside give up

is the entry wording for this same military enclosing action
to lay siege
vsto circumvent
7 8.2

Surround a place with soldiers and cut off its supplies to make it give up

is the general military enclosing action without stressing prolonged blockade
to hem in
vsto circumvent
6 6.7

Surround a person or thing so they cannot leave

is the military enclosing action that aims to force surrender, not mere restriction
to beleaguer
vsto circumvent
3 9.5

To surround a place with soldiers to force it to give up

is the same military enclosing action described by the entry term

How Surrounded

to circumvent
  • Archaic
1 8.2
to besiege
19 8.3
to blockade
9 6.0
to encircle
33 3.4
to surround
∞ 1.7

Surface Forms

circumvent infinitive
circumvented past
circumvented past participle
circumventing present participle
circumvents third person singular

Morphology

circumvent = circum + vent

The sense 'surround/enclose' is related to the idea 'around' conveyed by 'circum-', but the root is not a clear modern English base, so the relation is understandable but not fully transparent to learners.

Etymology

Circumvent comes from the Latin parts circum- 'around' and venire 'to come', meaning 'come around'. So to circumvent an enemy is to come around them and surround or trap them, like to 'encircle' them.