to wrap around
- phrasal verb
- /ræp əˈraʊnd/
- Bertha sat at the plank table, her hands wrapped around the warm teacup.
- wrap around with cloth
- wrap around the body
- wrap around the tree
And he's got in his satchel the orders wrapped around these three cigars.
- And he's got in his satchel the orders wrapped around these three cigars.
- There are cultural norms that wrap around the sense of purpose, cause, or belief.
- And I felt like all this tar was like wrapped around my heart, like covering my heart.
- And when they touch each other, they embrace, they wrap around each other.
- Brain tumor wrapped around my left optic nerve, wrapped around my coronary artery.
- And you're this like big long octopus with his tentacles wrapped around many countries.
Examples
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OK, favorite part, These windows wrap around the entire bedroom.
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I'm going to take this rope here, wrap it around, OK.
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This is gonna wrap all the way around the house.
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As soon as we arrived it literally wrapped around the building.
-
So we'll just wrap that around so it holds itself on.
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I figure me and you go over here, wrap a rope around that tree.
-
Did I tell you to wrap a towel around yourself?
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Instead, layers of smooth electrical tape can be wrapped around the straw ends to hold the wheels in place.
Academic text (2008) -
Taka is a single loincloth that wraps around the waist and between the legs.
Academic text (1991) -
I used a long piece of fabric to wrap around the gift box before presenting it.
Synonyms
To put something over another thing to protect or hide it
To cover something by putting material around it
To hang or cover something loosely with cloth
To surround something completely, like fog or darkness
To cover something completely, often with a cloth
To form a circle around a person or thing
To cover something completely, for example with fog or snow
Cover something completely with paper, cloth or another material to protect it
To cover something completely, as if by a blanket or mist
To wrap something completely in cloth or bandages
To put one thing over another so they overlap
To wrap someone or something in soft material to keep it warm and safe
Wrap something again after opening it or if its cover is torn
To cover something completely, often by surrounding it with cloth or paper
To wrap a cloth around the neck or shoulders for warmth and style
To twist something so it wraps around another thing and gets stuck
To wrap something tightly in thin plastic that gets smaller when heated
To cover something with an extra layer to protect it or make it look nicer
Completely surround something, often in a round shape like a ball
Antonyms
How Covered
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to enclose or cover by winding or folding a covering around' is directly derived from 'wrap' (to wind or cover) combined with 'around' (encircling), so the composite sense is immediately predictable. This verb + particle composition is cross-linguistically common and follows normal English semantics, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
The phrasal verb wrap around comes from the simple image of taking something and making it go all the way around an object. Imagine you wrap a blanket or a scarf so it goes around your body; that's why wrap around means 'to cover or enclose by winding'.