aroundadv.prep.
/əˈraʊnd/, U.S. /əˈraʊnd/ There is variation with round adv. and prep. in many of the senses below; in general around is less usual in British usage.
A. adv.
I. Expressing position or distance.
1.
a. In every direction from a central point; on every side, all about.to look around: see to look around at look v. Phrasal verbs 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > surrounding > [adverb]
umbeOE
umbetrinc1175
avirounc1300
roundc1300
aroundc1330
aboutsa1387
about rounda1393
compassa1400
round about?a1400
about-forthc1400
umbeturnc1400
acompassc1450
ambiently1659
aside1859
the world > space > relative position > quality of having sides or being a side > [adverb] > on every side
aroundc1330
omnilaterally1936
c1330 (?c1300) Bevis of Hampton (Auch.) l. 1373 God þat made þis world aronde [emended in ed. to al ronde; a1450 Caius round, a1500 Chetham rounde] Þe saue, sire king Brademond.
?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) (1996) i. l. 10370 Non was set at þe ende, bot alle o round [a1450 Lamb. a round] & alle wer hende.
1579 E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. June 60 The fountaine, where they sat arounde.
1709 A. Pope Spring in Poet. Misc.: 6th Pt. 730 While op'ning Blooms diffuse their Sweets around.
1764 O. Goldsmith Traveller 21 Where wild Oswego spreads her swamps around.
1813 W. Scott Rokeby vi. x. 287 Torches and cressets gleamed around.
1830 W. Phillips Mt. Sinai i. 212 The living porphyry, in towers around Grotesquely castellate.
1858 Harper's Mag. Dec. 3/2 Grouped around en bivouac are some two hundred negroes of both sexes and all ages.
1879 S. H. Butcher & A. Lang tr. Homer Odyssey ix. 146 He raised a great and terrible cry, that the rock rang around.
1905 St. Nicholas Sept. 1047/2 Merry little sunbeam... You shine upon the trees; You shine around as if to say: ‘There's work for busy bees.’
1944 Life 3 July (front matter) (advt.) The voice of the ‘talker’ grew loud in our ears and echoed around in our skulls.
2005 M. O'Connor Bitch Posse xiv. 185 I glance around to see if there are any teachers or student spies.
b. (With specified or generalized measurement.) In any direction within a particular distance of a given point; within an area having a given radius or square measurement.
ΚΠ
1670 J. Dryden Tyrannick Love iv. i. 31 Sev'n foot around for my defence I take!
1727 J. Thomson Summer 28 [A fly's] feeble Ray Extends an Inch around.
1833 N. Amer. Mag. May 9 I beheld all the athletes of the country for miles around engaged in their various sports.
1858 Harper's Mag. Jan. 168/2 Romantic life and death still furnish themes for the log cabin fire-side for a hundred miles around.
1915 Honk xi. 2/1 The language that came out of the hole in that driver's face heated the air for yards around.
1934 Red Star (Perth) 22 June 4/1 No green is standing for at least two miles around.
1995 J. Shreeve Neandertal Enigma (1996) x. 266 For acres around, the..soil is seeded with carved and molded images of animals and women.
2. (With specified or generalized measurement.)
a. In circumference; in distance along the outside or edge.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > curvature > roundness > [adverb] > in form or manner of circle or ring
roundc1300
arounda1425
circle-wise1542
circularly1543
roundwise1577
circular-wise1598
roundways1644
a1425 (?a1300) Kyng Alisaunder (Linc. Inn) (1952) 5327 Ayren þey leggiþ as agriffon Ac þey beon more feor aroun [c1400 Laud a-roum].
1700 J. Dryden Chaucer's Palamon & Arcite ii. in Fables 41 He first enclos'd for Lists a level Ground, The whole Circumference a Mile around.
1799 Trans. Amer. Philos. Soc. 4 514 A tusk found several years ago..was..twenty-one inches around at the larger end and fifteen at the smaller.
1831 J. D. Godman Amer. Nat. Hist. (ed. 2) II. 233 Its smallest part measures one foot five inches around.
1888 W. W. Meech Quince Culture viii. 49 There was a quince tree..that was thirty feet high, with a trunk six feet around.
1947 F. Clune Roaming round Austral. 170 Baobab trees..look something like a bottle with a tuft on top—a big bottle, up to 30 or 40 feet around at the base.
1989 J. McPhee Control of Nature (1991) 264 It stands in the air, on sixteen concrete pylons, each fifty-seven inches around.
2014 Jerusalem Post (Nexis) 7 Dec. 6 A woman's waist should be no more than 89 centimeters around.
b. In distance from one point to another by a circuitous or indirect route.
ΚΠ
1865 T. W. Knox Camp-fire & Cotton-field xviii. 194 It is a mile and a quarter across the neck of this peninsula, while it is sixteen miles around by the course of the river.
1919 Motor Trav. Oct. 23/1 It is thirty miles around to Coamo Springs via Ponce.
1972 Amer. Motorcyclist Feb. 22/2 I decided to see the surrounding area and rode 30 miles around to North Sydney.
2006 M. Leysen Flemish Fries ii. 37 We'll have to drive an extra seven or eight kilometers around to avoid the checkpoint.
3.
a. In the immediate vicinity; in a place or various places nearby; at hand.
ΚΠ
1625 R. Aylett Brides Ornaments iv. iii. 81 And all the Birds vpon the trees around, Consort with Muses nine to make a Heav'nly sound.
1708 tr. P. Bayle Misc. Refl. Comet I. xxxix. 74 They fear'd neither Siege nor Blockade; whilst all the other Towns around..were in continual Frights.
1753 True Life Betty Ireland 27 So unnatural a Quarrel between near Relations must make them despised by all the Neighbours around.
1780 Patriotic & Mil. Instr. 18 If the troops brought with them only a few provisions, they would easily support themselves in it,..as the people around would soon bring them in a sufficiency.
1873 J. H. Beadle Undeveloped West xxx. 651 It is told around for a fact that I could tell great confessions.
1892 Columbus (Ohio) Disp. 24 Mar. The jabberer who sits near you..and annoys everybody around with senseless and endless talk.
1933 ‘B. Ross’ Trag. of Z i. 7 You're a damn' embarrassing wench to have around.
1948 Chron.-Telegram (Elyria, Ohio) 2 Dec. 27/2 (caption) She..calls me old potato head when I'm not around!
1977 I. Shaw Beggarman, Thief i. viii. 107 You going to be around for a while?
2009 New Yorker 2 Mar. 23/3 Companies often delayed firing people, because..they preferred to keep people around rather than go to the trouble of firing them and having to hire replacements later.
b. colloquial (originally U.S.). As complement, chiefly with to be. In the world at large; out and about. Also: in existence; living; in active operation or use.See also up and around at up adv.2 7d.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > doing > [adverb] > in action or actively about
upc1460
asteer1786
astir1823
around1849
1849 N. Kingsley Diary 5 Sept. (1914) 58 Our Captain is out around to day as it is so pleasant.
1879 J. H. Parry Let. 19 Apr. in Latter-day Saints Millennial Star 19 May 319/1 We have a good, comfortable meeting house, well seated; as good as the best around.
1884 Lisbon (Dakota Territory) Star 18 July He is now able to be around, but has not yet fully recovered.
1887 F. Francis Saddle & Mocassin 61 Mr. Maroney ain't long gone to bed... I guess he'll be around at midday.
1915 Native Amer. 17 Apr. 178/2 It's lucky for us that that black Imp Smallpox isn't around just now.
1948 G. Vidal City & Pillar (1949) ii. ix. 195 Well, I'll see you around, Cy.
1965 J. Fleming Nothing is Number ii. v. 87 She hasn't been seen since the beginning of last term... All I know is that she hasn't been around.
1971 Wall St. Jrnl. 22 July 1/5 Liberty magazine..was around from 1924 until 1950.
1982 P. White Let. 5 Aug. (1994) xv. 569 I promised to go for the shocks after my visit to the chest expert.., if I'm still around.
1991 New Civil Engineer 5 Sept. 18 (advt.) The best piling system around is also one of the quietest around.
2011 New Yorker 5 Dec. 25/1 Shale gas has been around for a long time.
II. Expressing actual or implied motion.
4. Along the circuit or surface (of a circular or globular body); so as to encircle, enclose, or surround something; on each side or wall (of a room, etc.).Earliest in all around adv.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > surrounding > [adverb] > around a circular or globular body
aroundc1390
c1390 Roberd of Cisyle (Vernon) (1930) l. 171 (MED) He heet a barbur him bifore, Þat as a fool he schulde be schore Al around, lich a frere, An honde-brede boue eiþer ere, And on his croune make a crois.
c1400 (?c1390) Sir Gawain & Green Knight (1940) l. 1833 (MED) [The girdle was] Noȝt bot arounde brayden, beten with fyngrez.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. i. sig. A5v [The monster Errour]..Wrapping vp her wrethed sterne arownd.
1660 A. Cowley Ode Blessed Restoration 16 The Sea which circles us around, Ne're sent to Land so loud a sound.
1699 J. Dryden Chaucer's Flower & Leaf 229 All their heads around With chaplets green of cerrial-oak were crowned.
a1763 W. Shenstone Progress of Taste iv. in Wks. Verse & Prose (1764) I. 280 'Tis the pretexta's utmost bound, With radiant purple edg'd around.
1794 R. J. Sulivan View of Nature I. 67 A shell, which stretches quite around, and envelopes the whole globe.
1812 P. B. Shelley Devil's Walk (single sheet) The hell-hounds, Murder, Want and Woe, For ever hungering flocked around.
1866 Arthur's Home Mag. Mar. 198/2 The awe-struck faces gathered around,..the time, the place—all conspired to give a horrid fascination to the scene.
1902 Australasian Saddler & Harness Maker 1 Aug. 24/2 When sewn around, pare off the surplus leather that you sewed around the cane.
1937 J. F. Dobie in J. F. Dobie & M. C. Boatright Straight Texas 10 A pool in a dry creek—fenced around with mesquite brush.
1970 A. A. Aidoo Anowa i. 9 (stage direct.) Anowa enters from lower right... She is wearing her cloth wrapped around.
1982 B. Sterling Swarm in Mag. Fantasy & Sci. Fiction Apr. 11/1 The walls around, overhead, and below were buried under an explosive profusion of fungus.
2013 Ireland's Own 12 Apr. 53/1 You would all crowd around to watch as I baked.
5.
a. In a circular or orbital course; so as to make a complete circuit. Also reduplicated to indicate repetition, as around and around.Also in figurative contexts implying aimlessness or lack of purpose (cf. sense A. 10). to go around in circles, etc.: see the noun.
ΚΠ
c1550 Clariodus (1830) i. 1502 When Phebus bricht had rune his course around.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene ii. ii. sig. O6 An yearely solemne feast she wontes to make The day that first doth lead around.
1596 J. Davies Orchestra xxxvii. sig. B Vnder that spangled skye, fiue wandring flames, Besides the King of Day, and Queene of Night, Are wheel'd around.
1621 W. Slatyer Hist. Great Britanie ix. iv. 233 Where Church and all, laid leuell ground, Wilde Deere or Satyr's dance around.
1755 W. Huggins & T. H. Croker tr. L. Ariosto Orlando Furioso I. iv. 49 He took his way where does exactly fall The Sun, when with the Crab he goes around.
1835 16th Ann. Rep. N.-Y. Inst. for Instr. Deaf & Dumb 1834 App. 57 I saw the clouds going around and around.
1866 A. H. Rockwell Improved & Pract. Syst. Educating Horse 136 Take hold of his [sc. a dog's] hind-legs, lift them up and walk him around in a circle.
1891 Arthur's Home Mag. May 416/1 Funnel cakes... Begin in the middle of the pan, allowing the batter to run through the funnel, winding it around and around.
1931 R. W. Gordon in A. T. Smythe et al. Carolina Low Country 199 The shouters form a circle and proceed around and around in a sort of slow processional.
1976 T. Hooper Guide to Bees & Honey ii. 37 It is quite startling when you first see the apiary a-buzz with thousands of bees circling around.
2015 National Post (Canada) (Nexis) 23 May wp 2 Around and around we go. Buying, stuffing our faces, dying.
b. With a rotating or revolving motion. Chiefly with verb denoting such motion, as roll, spin, turn, etc.Also reduplicated to indicate repetition, as around and around. See also money makes the world go around, money makes the wheels go around at money n. Phrases 3c.
ΚΠ
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 115 And hissing, rowls his glaring Eyes around . View more context for this quotation
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis ix, in tr. Virgil Wks. 491 They whirl their Slings around.
a1731 J. Hughes Misc. in Verse & Prose (1737) 185 There might you see..Clouds of Dust ascend, and roll around.
1779 Ladies' Diary 19 The Wheel of fickle fortune whirls around.
1838 Delaware Reg. May 301 He whirled around and around in close contact with his partner.
1883 N.Y. World 27 May 1/3 It can be kicked, rolled around, or hammered.
1902 J. London in Out West Mag. 17 469 When I opened my eyes, the world outside went around and around, and when I closed my eyes, my head inside went around and around.
1964 J. A. M. Meerloo Hidden Communion ii. 29 Sometimes a person could attain the sacred feeling of elation by whirling around on his own axis.
2015 Daily Mail (Nexis) 1 Apr. The end of the video is said to show the aircraft spinning around after clipping the side of the mountain.
c. With reference to the cyclical nature of time (cf. sense A. 5a).See also what goes around, comes around at go v. Phrases 4b.
(a) Of a recurrent or due event or time: so as to arrive or happen. Chiefly in to come around 1a at come v. Phrasal verbs 1, to roll around 1 at roll v.2 Phrasal verbs 1.
ΚΠ
1753 London Mag. May 235/2 And as this [birth]day rolls around, May you still be perfect sound.
1802 T. Jefferson in Balance, & Columbian Repository 28 Dec. 412/3 Another year has come around, and finds us still blessed.
1844 Campbell's Foreign Semi-monthly Mag. Jan. 42/2 When spring came around, it was the intention of the owner to have it..planted with flowers.
1876 Janesville (Wisconsin) Gaz. 22 Nov. By the time election day came around, the negroes were..afraid of their lives to vote.
1919 N.Y. Times 23 Feb. iv. 12/2 When 4 o'clock came around every manjack of us would..begin making his tea.
1963 G. Greene in Vogue (U.S.) 1 Jan. 101/2 Each year when December comes around he suffers from endless practical jokes.
2015 Manch. Evening News (Nexis) 7 May 32 It is only when spring comes around and plants cover these muddy areas that the real results begin to appear.
(b) Of time or a period of time: so as to pass or elapse. Chiefly in to come around 1b at come v. Phrasal verbs 1, to roll around 2 at roll v.2 Phrasal verbs 1.
ΚΠ
1769 S. Stennett Disc. Personal Relig. I. iv. 163 When millions of years have rolled around, the immortal spirit will be but beginning in its existence.
1885 Life & Light for Woman 15 77 God willing, there will be more than one [Missionary Society] ere another twelve months rolls around.
1908 E. Barber Home Memories xix. 307 People began..to couple their names together. Ere three months came around they were engaged to be married.
2011 I. H. Buchen Executive Intelligence xxv. 209 By the time six months came around the company had nothing to show for its efforts.
(c) first (also second, next, etc.) time around: on the specified instance of a recurring event or occasion.
ΚΠ
1887 School Educ. Jan. 10/2 After spelling once through the class I..urge them to do as well or better the next time around.
1927 L. L. West Wide Northwest vi. 58 The first time around I discovered nothing, but on making a second trip I found an old tomcat that had caused the disturbance.
1956 ‘B. Holiday’ & W. Dufty Lady sings Blues iii. 43 The next time around she..started the ball rolling by handing me a big tip.
1984 Washington Post 1 Dec. d2/6 ‘I think we're staying away from elegant this time,’ said Deaver,..referring to the administration's plans to downscale the pomp and circumstance this time around.
2004 N.Y. Times 20 June ii. 20/4 (advt.) I recommend you go back to see it again just to make sure you didn't miss anything the first time around.
6.
a. So as to face a different or opposite way; so as to change or reverse direction; in the opposite direction. Frequently with turn (see also the verb).With verbs such as look not always clearly distinguishable from sense A. 1a, ‘in every direction’.the other way around: see the noun.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > direction > [adverb] > (turned) round or about
aboutOE
round about1539
roundc1540
around1590
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. viii. sig. H The light-foot Squyre her quickly turnd around.
a1676 T. Wadsworth Remains (1680) 213 What rudder turns those Pinnaces around?
1754 A. Murphy Gray's Inn Jrnl. No. 93 He looked around, and saw a reverend Form advance towards him.
1816 J. Austen Emma I. x. 188 They both looked around, and she was obliged to join them. View more context for this quotation
1850 P. H. Myers King of Hurons xxii. 187 Francis and Mallory..regained their oars, and brought the boat quickly around.
1920 Boys' Life June 19/3 The ‘little more wind’ arrived indeed and..whipped around so as to be dead against them.
1948 Z. N. Hurston Seraph on Suwanee xix. 186 Jim backed the Buick out with a zoosh, wheeled around and headed through town in a hurry.
1970 W. Henry Spanking & Bondage ii. 31 The distraught blonde twisted her tearstained face around to plead with Ron.
2009 Time Out N.Y. 3 Dec. 108/2 Brochu spins around to face the audience.
b. To a different or opposite opinion, state of mind, or condition.Chiefly in established phrasal verbs, as to bring around (as from illness, insensibility, etc.), to come around, to pull around, to turn around, etc.: see also the verbs.
ΚΠ
1841 N.-Y. Mirror 20 Mar. 94/3 At last salts-holding dowagers contrived To bring her around.
1841 G. Kennard Leisure of Some Winter Hours at Geneva ii. 44 The eye of God had been on him all the while; and the discipline to bring him around was resorted to with special care.
1858 Godey's Lady's Bk. Oct. 305/2 Mrs. Mason stood out against me a long time; but by coaxing I brought her around.
1865 Steubenville (Ohio) Weekly Herald 10 May It will be sometime before a few of the restless spirits can be subdued, but they will come around.
1934 D. Hammett Thin Man xxv. 206 Clumsy, ineffectual blows on my back and shoulder brought me around to find Gilbert pommelling me.
1948 M. Deasy Hour of Spring iv. 43 I could have argued with the woman for a week of Sundays and never come nearer to bringing her around.
1963 J. Joesten They call it Intelligence i. iv. 45 A spy..caught..usually is given a chance to switch sides..such a helpless foreign agent is being ‘turned around’.
1971 J. Whitehead Joiner i. 45 Then Billy and Polly appeared. It brought me around to near sober, for they were a sight to see.
2000 Independent (Nexis) 11 Feb. 7 M&S's management faces a tough challenge to pull the company around.
c. So as to exchange or move places or positions.
ΚΠ
1879 Executive Documents U.S. Senate (46th Congress, 1st Sess.) I. No. 37. (Proc. & Rep.) 388 Q. Were you with the right or left wing of your regiment?—A. I do not know as I can state positively, we changed around so much.
1916 G. M. Remick Jane Stuart Comrade viii. 144 I like to change furniture around and plan rooms.
1970 J. Dickey Deliverance iii. 145 We took about ten minutes shifting equipment around.
1981 Daily Tel. 15 Apr. 12/7 Mr Barry Askew, 44, editor of the Lancashire Evening Post for 12 years, was named yesterday as editor of the News of the World in a switch-around by Mr Rupert Murdoch..involving two of his Fleet Street titles.
2013 Church Times 4 Jan. 13/3 We read the papers and swap them around.
7. So as to form a ring or circle; so as to form a circular, spherical, or curved shape.
ΚΠ
1596 J. Davies Orchestra sig. B5 All the crowne of men That stands around doth make a murmuring.
1609 B. Jonson Masque of Queenes sig. Dv Sprinkle your liquors vpon the ground, And into the ayre; around, around. Around, around, Around, around, Till a Musique sound, And the pase be found.
1694 R. Blome tr. A. Le Grand Entire Body Philos. ii. 9 Which Wedges being placed around in the form of a Cylinder.
1720 N. Amhurst Poems Several Occasions 117 First puts the iron in the fire, And hammers out the glowing wire, Then tortures it in curls around, As tendrils on the vine are found.
1782 Gentleman's Mag. Mar. 135/2 Grave Norwood bends around, And to the distant view extends a gradual mound.
1826 Oriental Herald June 533 Serpents curl around, and eager dart Their pois'nous tongues.
1859 Harper's Mag. Jan. 163/1 The river..curved around like a horse-shoe.
1883 Encycl. Brit. XX. 122/2 They have been extended upwards and around into a great stepped mass of masonry.
1933 A. S. Eddington Expanding Universe ii. 47 The curvature, or bending around of space.
2012 K. Cochran DIY Bride 15 Twist a 12 in. length of aluminum foil into a rope-like shape. Curl it around into a small circle.
8.
a. So as to visit (in succession) a number of places or people. Also more generally: from one place or person to another, esp. by a roundabout or circuitous route; in a roundabout or indirect way; to and fro, here and there.Established phrasal verbs in this sense, as to ask around, to get around, to go around, to ring around, to run around, are listed at the relevant verbs; in such uses around sometimes carries the implication ‘indiscriminately’, as to play around, to screw around, to sleep around, etc.to know one's way around, to throw one's weight around, etc.: see the nouns.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > change of direction of movement > [adverb] > without fixed course
mislicheOE
around1596
erratically1613
random1619
deviously1742
randomly1765
1596 J. Davies Orchestra xliii. sig. B2 And now behold your tender Nurse the ayre And common neighbour that ay runns around.
1649 J. Ogilby tr. Virgil Bvcolicks viii. in tr. Virgil Wks. 32 I walk around with these three severall threads.
1742 J. Cennick Let. 26 Apr. in Christian's Mag. (1792) 3 20 Then I also think to go around into Gloucestershire, and visit brother Adam's society.
1776 A. R. Robbins Jrnl. (1850) 6 Exercised and walked around with the officers in A.M.
1804 F. Asbury Jrnl. 8 Mar. (1821) III. 132 To go around by Norfolk on my route eastward is objectionable for many reasons.
1828 N. Webster Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang. Around,..2. In a looser sense, at random; without any fixed direction; as, to travel around from town to town.
1869 S. Bowles Our New West viii. 170 We generally ‘boarded around’.
1879 J. L. Motley Hist. United Netherlands IV. xlvi. 298 West India was understood to extend..along the American coast to the Straits of Magellan, and so around to the South Sea.
1895 Argosy Sept. 529/2 When I found I was becoming drowsy I rose to my feet and moved around.
1927 E. Wallace Hand of Power xliv. 215 I shall be just eating around.
1943 B. Smith Tree grows in Brooklyn xiii. 102 The drummer went around hat in hand ungraciously accepting the pennies doled out to him.
1976 J. Grant Skateboarding xi. 103 Your board is bound to turn turtle frequently as you ride around.
2008 Pittsburgh Post-Gaz. (Nexis) 6 Feb. b7 Inevitably, the discussion moved around to home life.
b. Indicating arrival or presence at a specified or implied location.
ΚΠ
1732 Gentleman's Mag. Nov. 1076/1 While open House invites the World around, And makes its Owner's Glory shine renown'd.
1855 ‘M. Harland’ Hidden Path xvii. 205 I came around to talk with you upon a delicate topic.
1898 J. O. Kerbey Further Adventures of Boy Spy in Dixie ii. 28 I happened around to the Wells house..knowing very well that Geno..would soon join me on the veranda.
1903 Everybody's Mag. 9 128 I like to drop around at night, To visit with my honest, genial friends.
1952 J. Lait & L. Mortimer U.S.A. Confidential i. iii. 24 The police always knew who they were—especially on Saturday nights, when they came around for the gravy.
1990 K. Lawrence Springs Living Water xii. 235 Just give me a sec to bring the car around.
2015 Western Morning News (Nexis) 11 Apr. 10 One of the great joys in my life is having friends around for a meal.
9. In turn or succession among a group of people (in early use esp. one seated at a table); from one person to another; so as to include each person of a group.to pass the hat around: see the noun.
ΚΠ
1665 Char. Coffee-house 5 Having charg'd their Pipes around, They silence break.
1721 A. Ramsay Poems I. 17 Sweetly ca'd the Healths arown, To bonny Lasses black or brown.
1792 W. Bartram Trav. N. & S. Carolina (new ed.) ii. vi. 182 The pipe being filled, it is handed around.
1830 Monthly Rev. Feb. 228 After dinner, Burgundy was handed around in a human skull.
1883 Harper's Mag. Feb. 446/1 The apples and nuts are just enough to go around.
1901 ‘J. Flynt’ World of Graft ii. 32 It is comparatively easy to make a ‘spring’ out of the clutches of the law when there is sufficient money to hand around to the various persons with ‘pull’.
1982 J. Fenton Memory of War (1983) ii. 33 He thought there was a quantum of love and attention Which he would be forced to share around.
2008 Guardian (Nexis) 7 Aug. 33 There is simply not enough to go around, and consumers will have to use less fuel.
III. With sense of location or movement weakened or absent.
10. In an idle, casual, or frivolous manner; aimlessly, without any definite purpose.Chiefly in established phrasal verbs, as to drift around, to fool around, to hang around, to knock around, to sit around, to wait around, etc.: see also the verbs. Cf. about adv. 2b.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > distance > nearness > [adverb] > in the vicinity
environa1393
nearabout?a1425
besideward1460
environeea1500
round about1526
round1593
around1762
inabout1813
1762 tr. S. Gessner Rural Poems 86 Like a flock of sheep, the white-back'd waves sported around.
1839 C. M. Kirkland New Home xxv. 195 We heard that he was better, and would be able to ‘kick around’ pretty soon.
1848 J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (at cited word) To hang around, to loiter about.
1870 Galaxy May 726/2 What did Abel come fooling around there for?
1921 E. Ferber Girls vi. 110 You're always lolling around at massage parlors and beauty specialists.
1976 C. Holland Floating Worlds (1977) 49 It's funny to see all those huge men pussyfooting around.
2013 Northern Star & Rural Weekly (New S. Wales) (Nexis) 28 Nov. 14 Dozens of tin-hatted building workers were milling around.
B. prep.
I. Expressing position or distance.
1. In a position or positions on the circumference, edge, or border of; on each side of; in a ring or circle round. Also: in contact with and encircling, enclosing, or surrounding wholly or partially.to be around someone's neck: see the noun.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > surrounding > round or around [preposition] > in a circle
aroundc1475
c1475 (c1399) Mum & Sothsegger (Cambr. Ll.4.14) (1936) iii. l. 264 Rewlers of rewmes around all þe erthe.
1645 J. Milton On Christ's Nativity: Hymn iv, in Poems 3 No War, or Battails sound Was heard the World around.
1723 E. Chambers tr. S. Le Clerc Treat. Archit. I. 107 'Tis usual to have Windows much less adorn'd; and..a Plat-Band around them.
1756 E. Perronet Mitre ii. lviii. 75 What, wert thou drawn upon a sledge, All traitors just desert: Would heavy weigh around thy neck.
1785 Edinb. Mag. Apr. 269/1 Around the edge [of the medal] is, ex avro vt in scotia reperitvr briot fecit edinbvrgi, 1633.
1807 G. Crabbe Parish Reg. i, in Poems 35 Around the walls are Heroes, Lovers, Kings.
1857 A. Gray First Lessons Bot. iii. 15 Sometimes the embryo is coiled around the outside, in the form of a ring.
1871 Appleton's Jrnl. 6 720/2 Upon it [sc. the bedstead] were half a dozen..men lying around a Japanese tea-board with the opium-lamp.
1912 J. Conrad 'Twixt Land & Sea iv. 55 A gorgeous maze of flower-beds in the foreground, displayed around a basin of dark water.
1936 H. Miller Black Spring 134 It's the hour of the kaffee-klatchers sitting around the family table.
1957 Brit. Commonw. Forest Terminol.: Pt. II (Empire Forestry Assoc.) 44 A choker is used to form the noose around the log and hold it during dragging.
1961 J. Stubblefield Davies's Introd. Palaeontol. (ed. 3) viii. 197 The mouth is in the centre of the upper surface: around it are five openings, the spiracles.
2009 P. Carr-Gomm & R. Heygate Bk. Eng. Magic i. 40 The big rune around the outside is ‘Perth’, representing mystery.
2. In the immediate vicinity of; in a place or various places near to; in some part or various parts of. Often in in and around. Also in figurative contexts.Quot. 1657 may show sense B. 1.
ΚΠ
1591 E. Spenser Virgil's Gnat in Complaints sig. I And shrill grashoppers chirped them around.
1657 E. Benlowes Sacred Friendship xviii. 1/2 Next, all the Rocks around the spatious Shore My Midas Soveraign Touch should turn to Ore.
1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 113. ⁋3 [She] bore the Whispers of all around the Court with such a pretty Uneasiness.
1763 London Evening-Post 6 Dec. All around here appears full of desolation and ruins.
1792 Let. 9 May in J. Priestley Appeal to Public on Riots Birmingham (1793) App. xviii. 193 We sat up all night,..and kept a strong guard both in and around the house.
1794 R. B. Sheridan Duenna (new ed.) iii. 62 There is a chilling air around poverty, that often kills affection, that was not nurs'd in it.
1853 E. Ruskin Let. 30 Nov. in M. Lutyens Millais & Ruskins (1967) 113 Continual letter-writing and note-sending and card-leaving on every body in and around Edinburgh.
1897 C. M. Flandrau Harvard Episodes 172 It isn't given to many of us to have real, sure-enough feelings around here in college.
1939 ‘N. West’ Day of Locust xiv. 105 He wore a long-haired sweater, called a ‘gorilla’ in and around Los Angeles.
1963 B. Vesey-Fitzgerald Cat Owner's Encycl. 39 A neutered cat is much more likely to stay around the house.
1986 New Yorker 10 Feb. 39/2 The nurse was steely... ‘I'm not giving you any sleeping medication... I don't trust you around medication.’
2011 Wall St. Jrnl. 11 Nov. c2/2 The bonds are on sale in post offices around the country.
3. In every direction from (a central point); towards every side of.Frequently with verb of sight, as look, gaze, etc., having a personal pronoun as object referring to the subject of the verb.green around the gills, rough around the edges: see the adjectives.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > surrounding > round or around [preposition] > all around
round1664
around1667
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost ii. 900 They around the flag Of each his faction..Swarm populous. View more context for this quotation
1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 118. ⁋1 The Prospects around me.
1775 G. Washington Gen. Orders 20 July in Papers (1985) Revolutionary War Ser. I. 133 The Reveille is to beat when a Centry can see clearly one thousand Yards around him, and not before.
1837 Times 14 Dec. 5/3 The present limits of the general post delivery are a circle of three miles around the Post-office.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. §11. 84 The air around and above us was..clear.
1882 C. Pebody Eng. Journalism xxi. 158 The woods that lie around a Flintshire castle.
1933 Brit. Birds 27 20 A certain area of land or territory..extends around the nesting site.
1962 S. Ennis tr. P. Sayers Old Woman's Refl. xii. 87 I lifted my head and looked around me.
2012 N. Barker Yips iv. 144 She pauses for a moment, glancing around her, speculatively.
4. (With specified or generalized measurement.) In distance along the outside or edge of (an object or area); around the circumference of.
ΚΠ
1826 J. D. Godman Amer. Nat. Hist. I. i. vii. 138 Five feet ten inches and a-half around the breast, three feet eleven inches around the middle of the fore-leg.
1850 G. G. Foster N.Y. by Gas-light xii. 106 His trim-fitting black panties, ‘sixty inches around the bottom’.
1915 Hardwood Rec. 25 June 23/1 A saw twelve inches in diameter, three feet around the rim.
1986 Spare Rib May 10/1 Greenham is nine miles around the perimeter.
2000 Press (Christchurch, N.Z.) (Nexis) 4 July 35 Another decade gone, another coming up, a new smile line around the eyes, a few more centimetres around the hips.
5. On the far side of (a corner); situated on the other side of (a building, area, etc.). Also in figurative contexts. Cf. around the corner at corner n.1 2b.
ΚΠ
1831 Coll. Maine Hist. Soc. 1 409 Colonel Green..marched..to the second barrier, which was just around the angle of the town.
1835 Amer. Monthly Mag. Feb. 330 I heard what seemed to be the voice of a young girl..burst out a-singing ahead of me, just around the next bend of the brook.
1901 Secret Service 20 Dec. 23/2 Leaving their carriage waiting for them around a corner, the officers crossed over toward the pier.
1905 Automobile 19 Oct. 446/1 Once around the turn the engine started again.
1968 R. Magoffin We Bushies 33 The Black Stump was just around the Bend, But it's no longer here.
1974 T. Simpson Sugarbag Years 108 There was a paddock of potatoes around the road from us.
2014 Derby Tel. (Nexis) 10 July That big score remains just around the next bend. His very fine 60, off 133 balls with eight fours, suggests it is that close.
II. Expressing actual or implied motion.
6. So as to encircle, enclose, or surround wholly or partially; so as to form a ring round.to get one's arms around, to get one's head around: see the nouns. to wrap oneself around: see the verb. to get one's laughing gear around something: see laughing gear n. at laughing n. Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > surrounding > round or around [preposition]
abouteOE
round1573
around1597
1597 Bp. J. Hall Virgidemiarum: 1st 3 Bks. i. i. 2 Whose statues wandring Twine Of Yuy, mixt with Bayes, circlen around Their liuing Temples likewise Laurell-bound.
1629 F. Quarles Argalus & Parthenia iii. 115 Around his browes did twine Full laden Clusters, rauisht from the Vine.
1680 E. Settle Female Prelate v. 63 Around his neck my longing arms I threw.
a1711 T. Ken Sion iii, in Wks. (1721) IV. 390 A silken Cord around his Neck was hung.
1792 Times 30 May 3/2 A great number of our modern beaux, with a voluminous silk plaided handkerchief tied around their necks.
1806 B. M'Mahon Amer. Gardener's Cal. 561 Place small stakes and bass-mats, or long-drawn straw, bound around such plants..as you have planted out in warm well-sheltered borders.
1861 R. T. Hulme tr. C. H. Moquin-Tandon Elements Med. Zool. ii. iii. i. 73 A certain number of nopals are planted around the houses.
1886 W. B. Yeats Mosada in Dublin Univ. Rev. June 482 I'll draw my cloak around me; it is cold.
1918 F. D. Jones Mechanisms & Mech. Movements viii. 218 This belt passes around idler pulleys and over the wide-faced pulleys.
1962 R. Hardy Act of Destr. i. vi. 42 This minute creature around which he could have closed his fist.
2008 Q May 46/3 Sheryl Crow..wraps her arms around Watts.
7.
a. So as to pass along the outside of (a place or area); in a partial circuit or detour round; so as to avoid or overcome (an obstacle or figuratively a problem).to get around, to work around (a person or thing): see the verbs. to go round the bend, to go round the corner, etc.: see the nouns.
(a) In literal contexts.
ΚΠ
1625 S. Purchas Pilgrimes I. i. vii. 77 Hanno and Himilco..were sent by publike decree vpon discoueries.., Hanno Southwards to coast around the African shores.
1764 tr. G. F. Mueller Voy. Asia to Amer. (ed. 2) 49 He sailed back, and steered around the South Promontory of Kamtschatka.
1781 J. Byng Diary 3 July in Torrington Diaries (1934) I. 48 The walk around them is two miles, and a half.
1847 W. T. Thompson in Spirit of Times 24 July 250/2 Way he went.., down around the house, through the horse lot, and into the old field.
a1884 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Suppl. 200/1 A valve, hydrant, etc...which lifts its valve entirely out of the way of obstructing the flow; not compelling the water to flow around it.
1948 B. Griffith Amer. Me ii. i. 91 They carried the heavy greasy cattle hides down the wharves to the ships waiting to sail around the Horn.
1970 Pop. Mech. Oct. 106/1 Instructions were to..steer around the pylon, brakes full on!
2012 Lowell (Mass.) Sun (Nexis) 16 July The plan..included building a road around the city landfill at Drum Hill.
(b) In figurative contexts.
ΚΠ
1803 National Intelligencer & Washington Advertiser 4 Nov. The gentleman thus surmounts, or gets around his own doctrine, and opposes a treaty as effectively as if he had never supported the position.
1875 ‘M. Twain’ in Atlantic Monthly Mar. 283/2 This has got to be learned; there isn't any getting around it.
1951 Sport (U.S.) Nov. 69/3 If Waterfield bootlegs around you this afternoon, it'll cost you 25 bucks.
1959 E. Connell Mrs. Bridge xcii. 191 With him,..she had adroitly steered around threatening subjects.
1983 Your Computer Sept. 21/2 The case cut-out around it [sc. a port] is not big enough for most DB-25 plug shells. I got around that temporarily by removing the connector shell.
2015 Sunday Times (Nexis) 1 Mar. (Business section) 4 Banks and their advisers will no doubt find a way around the rules.
(c) Cricket. = round prep. 4b. Only in around the wicket.
ΚΠ
1867 Royal Cornwall Gaz. 4 July 5/4 The umpire..gave it as his dictum..to one of the bowlers, that with round-hand bowling around the wicket, no one should, or would be put out for having leg before wicket.
1891 Milwaukee (Wisconsin) Sentinel 2 Aug. 6/3 Kelley is said to be a terrific left hand bowler who bowls around the wicket for a left hand batter and over the wicket for a right hand batter.
1955 Times 14 May 10/6 He was in his early days a fast bowler, around the wicket.
2012 Cricketer July 32/3 I came around the wicket late in the day and got good reverse swing to pick up five wickets in three overs.
b. So as to follow the curved course of; along and round; so as to be on the far side of (a corner). (to) swing around the circle: see the noun or verb.
ΚΠ
1771 A. Young Six Months Tour N. Eng. (ed. 2) II. vii. 85 From hence, moving forwards around a curve of the terras, the objects are seen in new directions.
1814 Niles' Weekly Reg. 30 Apr. 148/1 I..ordered about one third of the men to be posted around the bend on the river bank.
1839 J. Abbott Caleb in Town iii. 44 Before the laborer came back.., they had turned around a corner, and disappeared.
1876 J. G. Holland Story of Sevenoaks (new ed.) x. 133 Jim steered his boat around a little bend and in a moment it was running in shallow water.
1925 F. S. Fitzgerald Great Gatsby 138 It came out of the gathering darkness..and then disappeared around the next bend.
1972 Southerly 32 199 He had come around a corner in a corridor to find her confronting a larrikin from 2D.
1992 Tucson (Arizona) Weekly 13 May 6/4 Most [of the cars] are moving much faster as they wind up, down and around the road's precipitous dips and turns.
2004 H. Strachan Make a Skyf, Man! xi. 113 A train is coming around a curve about a mile away.
8.
a. So as to make a complete circuit of; to all points on the outside of.Also reduplicated to indicate repetition, as around and around.to run circles around, to run rings around, etc.: see the nouns.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > movement in circle or curve > moving in circle or curve [preposition] > so as to encircle or make circuit of
around1642
1642 H. More Ψυχωδια Platonica sig. N7 In a pure point of time so must he flie Around this ball, and the vast shade of Night Quite swallow up.
1674 New Coll. Poems & Songs 33 Till..coasting the whole earth around,..I on my native shore was cast.
1720 A. Ramsay Poems 352 Nymphs and Graces sing, And trip around the Fairy Ring.
1776 Lady A. Miller Lett. from Italy I. x. 114 He has represented a round dance of Cupids, capering and jumping around the Virgin.
1818 J. Morier Second Journey through Persia vi. 108 They..walk around and around the child.
1855 C. Kingsley Westward Ho! III. xii. 338 They would follow Sir Amyas Leigh around the world.
1863 H. Edgar Jrnl. 3 May in Contrib. Hist. Soc. Montana (1900) III. 133 Around and around that bush we went.
1911 Man 11 84 The mourners completed the ceremony by becoming intoxicated and dancing around the grave.
1975 P. Warren Aegean Civilization ii. 43 Here are 27 figures marching around a ritual vase a few inches high.
2003 V. Capildeo No Traveller Returns 35 She goes around and around the room.
b. With a rotating, revolving, or orbital movement round (a centre or axis).Also reduplicated to indicate repetition, as around and around.to whip the devil around the stump: see the verb.
ΚΠ
1670 J. Dryden Tyrannick Love v. i. 56 Who..Whirlwind-like, around him drove the Air.
1734 tr. P. L. M. de Maupertuis Diss. Cœlestial Bodies 19 in J. Keill Exam. Burnet's Theory of Earth (ed. 2) Descartes to account for the Revolutions of the Planets around the Sun, supposes them imerged in a Fluid.
1791 W. Cowper tr. Homer Iliad in Iliad & Odyssey I. xviii. 606 The might Of huge Orion, with Him Ursa call'd, Known also by his popular name, the Wain, That spins around the pole.
1838 F. B. Burton Astron. Simplified 94 The Sun—not merely rotates around himself,—but, in fellowship with the thousand other Suns appertaining to his immediate cluster of Suns, he like all those other Suns, revolves around that cluster's common centre.
a1877 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. I. 895/1 Fly,..the arms which revolve around the bobbin in a spinning-frame.
1920 A. S. Eddington Space, Time & Gravitation viii. 132 The revolution of an electron around a nucleus.
1950 Boys' Life Oct. 17 The Andromeda Galaxy..is composed of billions of stars that endlessly whirl around and around a core.
2011 Wall St. Jrnl. 8 Oct. a1/6 Pole dancing involves moving around a steel or brass pole that is held by the legs or arms.
9. (Figurative extensions of senses B. 6, B. 8.) So as to have as a central subject, focus, or base.
ΚΠ
1656 A. Cowley Davideis ii. 47 in Poems Thousand bright Joys cluster around thine head.
1791 in R. Glover Boadicia (new ed.) 3 Fame will long flourish around the name of Glover—he was a Poet.
1818 H. Hallam View Europe Middle Ages I. vi. 527 To pour the radiance of unclouded reason around the last struggles of dissolution.
1877 W. Lytteil Landmarks Sc. Life & Lang. iii. vii. 134 Around the Stone of the bedesman's cell quite a romance has been woven.
1905 Smart Set Aug. 60/2 A sort of obstinate silence seemed to settle around her cousin's fate.
1935 P. G. Wodehouse Blandings Castle xii. 305 Our whole programme is built around it. We are relying on it to be our big smash.
1958 Communications Assoc. Computing Machinery 1 4 Would it be possible..to design around Hamming codes an auto-diagnostic machine?
1980 Berkeley Graduate Oct. 1/4 Gay people..often build entire social lives around homophobes.
2015 Observer (Nexis) 10 Feb. Many of our young people..seek rapid answers to the problems that gather around them.
10.
a. So as to include or visit all or many parts or members of; here and there over; to and fro in or among.
ΚΠ
1675 T. R. tr. G. Marino Slaughter of Innocents iv. xcii. 125 His complaints around the Country call, To moan the Ruins of his Family.
1687 J. Dryden Hind & Panther iii. 413 You..range around the realm without controll Among my sons, for Proselytes to prole.
1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 208. 154 The Coquet is so much taken up with throwing her Eyes around the Audience..that she cannot be expected to observe the Actors but as they are her Rivals.
1735 H. Jacob Epist. II in Wks. 106 You cou'd not, Friend, out-travel Care, Around all Europe shou'd you strole.
1848 G. A. Selwyn Jrnl. in Church in Colonies (1851) XX. 78 The southerly gale continuing..we remained at anchor, and looked around the Cove for traces of Captain Cook.
1883 Harper's Mag. Mar. 600/2 He seized me and waltzed me around the little dining-room.
1916 J. Joyce Portrait of Artist v. 206 He looked around the little class of students.
1947 C. Price Trails I Rode 190 He had put in most of his life travelling around the country with some kind of an old scrub race horse.
1978 Washington Post (Nexis) 13 Aug. f1 Dick George, looking a bit bummed out from racing around town during a transit strike, settles into a chair.
2001 fRoots Oct. 13/3 Jak Kilby..must have been rushing around Rivermead like the proverbial blue-arsed.
b. So as to include or visit in succession (a number of people or places, esp. most or all of those consisting of a particular group, set, or category); from one to another of.to hand around, to ring around, etc.: see the verbs.
ΚΠ
1833 Bible (Webster's) Mark vi. 6 And he went around the villages teaching.
1862 J. Close Once Year ii. ii. 28/2 He would rise at four o'clock of a winter's morning, go around the Field-houses,..fodder the cattle.
1928 Pop. Sci. Monthly Oct. 125/1 Go around all the teeth in this way, taking a little stock off the side.
2011 Milford Mercury (Nexis) 3 Feb. Sign the paper petition currently going around pubs and businesses in Milford Haven.
11. In reference or relation to; concerning, about.
ΚΠ
1897 Punch 29 May 263/3 Essence of Parliament... Useful, but not precisely alluring, debate around Employers' Liability Bill.
1938 Wisconsin Libr. Bull. July 133/1 The rather outstanding feature throughout the programs was the discussion around the larger problems of rural service.
1970 M. A. Cook Stud. in Econ. Hist. Middle East (1978) 278 (note) The..publication..has stimulated discussion around pre-capitalist economic formations of the non-European type.
1991 B. Moon Guide National Curriculum (ed. 3) vi. 75 At the heart of the controversy was the debate around history as ‘content’ versus ‘skills’.
2013 Church Times 20 Sept. 34/4 Her biblical reflections..are thought provoking, and will..act as a stimulus to further biblical enquiry around the themes of justice and hospitality.
III. With reference to time, and in other extended uses.
12. Throughout the whole period of; all through.
a. In postmodifying position.Chiefly in the year around, all (the) year around, the clock around.In this construction around may also be viewed as an adverb appended emphatically to the preceding adverbial phrase all (the) year, etc.
ΚΠ
1714 J. Witty Treat. Sphere iii. 139 After the same may we get these Prosthaphæretical Arches all the Year around.
1897 R. Kipling Captains Courageous 17 You've nigh slep' the clock around, young feller.
1904 Galveston (Texas) Tribune 25 Sept. 3/4 There was a variety show that ran all the year around.
1907 ‘N. Blanchan’ Birds Every Child should Know xiii. 191 The downy woodpecker..stays by us the year around.
?1944 J. A. Lee Shining with Shiner iv. 40 The farmers would be in the fields with their reapers and binders, working the clock around.
1979 Compl. Bk. Roller Skating v. 78 Dunn practices..all year around, rather than ‘cramming’ right before competition.
2001 C. Fuerst Killswitch 158 I sat all day around feeling good.
b. In premodifying position.Earliest and chiefly in around the clock adv.
ΚΠ
1872 N.Y. Times 24 Nov. 4 Mr. Daly's new play..is called ‘Around the Clock’.
1917 F. F. Rockwell (title) Around the year in the garden.
1957 Current Population Rep. Labor Force (U.S. Dept. Commerce) July 7/1 More women past 35 than younger women work around the year.
2000 M. Smolensky & L. Lamberg Body Clock Guide to Better Health xvi. 371 Some medications will work..around the year in this fashion.
13. Chiefly colloquial. About, approximately; some time, quantity, etc., near.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > freedom from error, correctness > exactness, accuracy, precision > closeness to accuracy > around, about [preposition]
abouta1398
aside halfc1425
circa1861
around1869
circiter1888
round1901
the world > relative properties > quantity > approximate quantity or amount > approximately (an amount) [preposition]
abouta1398
around1920
1869 Spirit of Times Proclaimed by Acts ii. 17 They..will not be gathered around the time immediately preceding His coming, but..belong to the whole dispensational period.
1889 Auk Apr. 126 Common Tern.—This species was the most abundant seen on the trip..somewhere around five thousand.
1920 Daily Tel. 3 Apr. 10/6 (N.Y. Lett.) S. Motor Company shares..usually sell around $100 each.
1931 W. G. McAdoo Crowded Years x. 158 The convention adjourned around four o'clock.
1984 R. Dahl Boy 60 The half-brother..was somewhere around eighteen then.
2008 New Yorker 1 Dec. 43/3 Around three o'clock, the clients..began taking seats in the large living room.
Phrases
P1. colloquial (originally U.S.). to have been around: to have visited many places and gained considerable experience of the world; = to have been round at round adv. 7b.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > wisdom, sagacity > worldly wisdom > have worldly wisdom [phrase]
to know what's whatc1422
to know (also learn, show, teach, tell) (a person) a thing or two1760
to know one's way around1814
to have one's head screwed on right (also the right way)1821
to have been around1872
to know (also have) all the answers1896
to know how many (blue) beans make five-
1872 Atlantic Monthly July 85/2 I've been around in my time, boys, And cavorted with any you like.
1927 E. Hemingway Fiesta vii. 72 We've all been around. I dare say Jake here has seen as much as you have.
1968 W. J. Burley Three Toed Pussy iv. 68 I am not an abortionist but neither am I wet behind the ears. I've been around.
2001 I. Sinclair Landor's Tower (2002) i. iii. 39 It was hard to judge her age... She'd been around, but she had a clear, luminescent skin.
P2. Baseball. around the horn: (a) from one infield player or position to another (of throwing either between plays to keep muscles warm or for show), or from third base to second and then to first to dismiss two members of the batting side in one play; see also around the horn adj. and n. at Compounds 2; (b) round all the bases. [Apparently so called with allusion to a ship rounding Cape Horn (see Cape Horner n.), i.e. taking the longer route.]
ΚΠ
1912 Patriot News (Harrisburg, Pa.) 30 Mar. 14/3 Baseball Slang Is Very Picturesque... ‘All the way around the horn’.
1912 [implied in: Sun (Baltimore) 6 Apr. 12/1 He engineered a double play all around the horn.].
1921 Sun (Baltimore) 6 Aug. 6/1 The Champions made a double and four singles, but only got one man around the horn.
1931 N.Y. Herald Tribune 5 Apr. iii. 1/8 The ball went around the horn for the penultimate and final outs.
1936 Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Gaz. 14 Sept. 8/1 Van Fleet went around the horn in the second stanza when he singled with one away, and kept moving when Gasaway and Michaels followed with safe knocks.
1939 Lowell (Mass.) Sun 27 June 12/4 The Lowell combination, Russ Pouliot to Art Olsen to Bob Lambert, around the horn from short to second to first, was exceptionally fast.
1970 J. Bouton Ball Four vi. 298 You throw the ball around the horn—catcher to first baseman to shortstop to second baseman to third baseman—after an infield out, and you do it with a lot of élan.
1986 Comments on Etymol. 16 v.–vi. 8 By extension, around the horn referred to simply throwing the ball around the infield as a sort of ritual before giving it to the pitcher.
1991 Athlon's Baseball '91 131/1 Ernie Koy, the next batter, hit a grounder to Lew Riggs at third. Koy was a fast runner, and Riggs decided to throw home rather than go for a double play around the horn.
2004 Smithsonian Oct. 78/1 Grant spent some time at every position in the infield, from his accustomed third base all the way around the horn to first.
2011 Wall St. Jrnl. 9 Aug. d6/2 Johnson sought to put his spin on one of baseball's time-honored traditions. It had nothing to do with throwing around the horn or stretching in the seventh inning.
P3. slang. around the world: over different parts of a person's body for oral stimulation, esp. including fellatio and anilingus. Frequently in a trip around the world. Cf. around-the-world n.
ΚΠ
1939 D. Maurer in Lang. of Underworld (1981) 117/2 (A) trip around the world. A tongue-bath.
1951 J. Jones From Here to Eternity xvii. 245 She arched her back toward him thirstily, proudly. ‘How about a trip around the world, honey?’ she said silkily, ‘to start off with?’
2003 J. Grimsley Boulevard 128 Henry liked to do almost everything you could do with another man, including things he called rimming and going around the world.
Compounds
C1. Forming attributive adjectives with the and noun.See also around the clock adj., around-the-world adj.
around-the-table adj. that takes place around a table or among an assembly of people with a common interest; = round-the-table adj. at round adv. and prep. Compounds 3.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > conversation > [adjective] > of or relating to discussion > of particular type
around-the-table1898
round-the-table1900
circumtabular1919
1898 Goshen (Indiana) Mid-week Times 14 June They had around the table talks on educational matters.
1926 Dental Items of Interest Q. Rev. Oct. 8 Much of the material that has appeared already actually has been gleaned by him in genuine ‘Around the Table Talks’. Some one during dinner, describes a meritorious technique; the editor jots down a memorandum; a bit later it appears in this department.
1951 Internat. Jrnl. 7 (front matter) (advt.) The frank, around-the-table discussions at the Canadian-American Conference on Foreign Relations.
2011 M. J. Garvin & A. Mahalingam in P. S. Chinowsky & A. D. Songer Organization Managem. in Constr. ix. 150 When the project encountered turbulence, all parties were able to hold an ‘around the table’ discussion.
around-the-year adj. that exists, occurs, or is used throughout the year; = round-the-year adj. at round adv. and prep. Compounds 3.
ΚΠ
1909 Anaconda (Montana) Standard 7 Dec. 4/2 An all around the year spot for sport.]
1938 Sandusky (Ohio) Reg. 14 Sept. 7/8 Around-the-year sanitation plus spraying is the road to solution of most grape problems.
1989 Sunday Mail (S. Austral.) (Nexis) 24 Dec. Looking after your bonsai is an around-the-year job.
2000 Japan Econ. Newswire (Nexis) 22 Jan. The Financial Supervisory Agency (FSA) plans to introduce around-the-year monitoring of insurers to check whether they have sufficient reserves for paying out insurance benefits.
C2.
around the horn adj. and n. Baseball (a) adj. (attributive) designating an act of throwing the ball around the infield (see around the horn at Phrases 2); (b) n. a double play in which the fielder at third base throws to second base who throws to first base, getting two outs in the process; (also, rare) a type of sidearm pitch (see quot. 19372).
ΚΠ
1923 Sun (Baltimore) 28 May 10/4 An around-the-horn play made the stands..applaud in the seventh inning... Devine grounded to Maisel near the bag. Fritz, Bishop and Styles executed a perfect twin murder.
1937 Sporting News Rec. Bk. 63 Around the horn, side-arm curve to batter when count is 3 and 2.
1937 Christian Sci. Monitor Weekly Mag. 1 Sept. 13/1 Sailors have boasted for centuries of their experiences ‘around the Horn’. Such experiences occur daily on big league diamonds—simply the slang expression for a double play (two men retired on the same play) that is relayed from the third baseman, from second base and then to first. The term is also used occasionally to describe a pitcher's wide-breaking curve.
1940 Appleton (Wisconsin) Post-Crescent 28 May 14/2 The Papermakers had another ‘around the horn’ double play on Saturday, Malewig to Hoeffken to Malattia.
1970 J. Bouton Ball Four vi. 298 We might have the best ‘around the horn’ in the league.
2014 Daily Gaz. (Sterling, Illinois) (Nexis) 28 May Sterling then ended the game with an around-the-horn double play.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2016; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
<
adv.prep.c1330