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📢 To spread 🔄 To turn in circle 🚧 To avoid rules 🫱 To be enough ↩️ To avoid directly
to go around

to go around

76 3.5
Find another way to avoid a difficult rule or task
  • phrasal verb
  • /ɡoʊ əˈraʊnd/
translation icon : eludir
  • Let me go around the table and introduce everyone.

And is that wage law and rule really a must or can we go around it?

Examples

  • - Let's be on the safe side and go around.

    Camp Daze (2005)

  • We had an exam coming up, but it was dangerous to go around as a group.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • So you kind of learn to go around that.

  • Then the day came for me to go around to say goodbye.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • "I think we should go around to the front door if we do."

    Fiction book (1996)

  • I think they liked the fact that I'd taken the trouble to go around.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • I'd appreciate it if you didn't go around telling people lies about me.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • We don't have to go around saying greed is good.

  • We were just going around trying to collect empties and recycle 'em.

    Bio-Dome (1996)

  • To avoid the long lines, we decided to go around the busy shopping mall and find another entrance.

Synonyms

to bypass
vsto go around
119 4.7

To avoid dealing with a problem by using a different method

focuses more on avoiding duties or rules rather than physical routes
to get around
vsto go around
115 4.2

Avoid doing something difficult or needed by finding a clever way

is more general avoidance that may not be indirect or clever
to circumvent
vsto go around
45 7.7

To avoid a rule or problem by using clever tricks

is broader avoidance and may not always rely on clever loopholes
to sidestep
vsto go around
15 4.9

To avoid answering a question or dealing with a problem directly

is used for avoiding tasks or rules by finding another route or method
to short-circuit
vsto go around
3 6.1

Avoid normal steps in a process to get a result faster

focuses on avoiding duties or rules, not on stopping whole processes
to skirt around the issue
vsto go around
1 6.8

To avoid talking about a difficult subject by giving vague answers

is about avoiding unpleasant tasks or rules, not only sensitive subjects
to go all around the Wrekin
vsto go around
  • Archaic
9.9

To talk or act in a long, roundabout way to avoid the main point

is about avoiding duties or rules by another method, not long indirect routes

Antonyms

to face
∞ 2.2

To deal with a difficult situation or person

to confront
359 4.4

Face a difficult problem or fear directly and bravely

How Avoidant

to evade
31 3.9
to go around
76 3.5
workaround
17 3.9
to postpone
234 3.4
to deal
∞ 1.6

Surface Forms

go around infinitive
went around past
gone around past participle
going around present participle
goes around third person singular

Morphology

go + around

The meaning 'to circulate among people' is directly and compositionally derived from 'go' (to move) combined with 'around' (around/about/among), yielding the motion sense of moving through a group. This motion-to-distribution mapping is common cross-linguistically and follows standard English particle-verb patterns, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Go around comes from the simple idea of walking around a wall or gate to avoid it. That's why it means 'to avoid dealing with something' by finding another way.