aroundpreposition, adverb
uk/əˈraʊnd/us/əˈraʊnd/UK also roundaround preposition, adverb (IN THIS DIRECTION)
A2 in a position or direction surrounding, or in a direction going along the edge of or from one part to another (of):
We sat around the table.
He put his arm around her.
A crowd had gathered around the scene of the accident.
She had a scarf around her neck.
The moon goes around the earth.
I walked around the side of the building.
As the bus left, she turned around (= so that she was facing in the opposite direction) and waved goodbye to us.
He put the wheel on the right/wrong way around (= facing the right/wrong way).
The children were dancing around the room.
I spent a year travelling around Africa and Asia.
The museum's collection includes works of art from all around the world.
She passed a plate of biscuits around (= from one person to another).
This virus has been going around (= from one person to another).
More examples
- The snake coiled itself tightly around the deer.
- People clustered around the noticeboard to read the exam results.
- She drew her coat tightly around her shoulders.
- She flung her arms around his neck.
- The cathedral dominates the landscape for miles around.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
General location and orientation
- -oriented
- about
- along
- anterior
- back onto sth
- bearing
- direction
- far
- front
- frontal
- hind
- nearside
- offside
- on-site
- orientated
- overleaf
- position
- positional
- round
- spot
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around preposition, adverb (IN THIS PLACE)
A2 positioned or moving in or near a place, often without a clear direction, purpose, or order:
He always leaves his clothes lying around (on the floor).
She went into town and spent two hours just walking around.
Let's take the children to the park so they can run around for a while.
I used to live around (= near) here.
She's never around (= near here) when you need her.
Will you be around next week?
There's a lot of flu around (= a lot of people have it) at the moment.
Smartphones have been around (= existed) for quite a while.
More examples
- While she waited, she walked aimlessly around the car park.
- A wasp came towards us and Howard started waving his arms around.
- She gathered up the newspapers that were scattered around the floor.
- If your sister's around, bring her too.
- Don't walk around outside in your bare feet.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
General location and orientation
- -oriented
- about
- along
- anterior
- back onto sth
- bearing
- direction
- far
- front
- frontal
- hind
- nearside
- offside
- on-site
- orientated
- overleaf
- position
- positional
- round
- spot
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Idiom(s)
around and around
aroundadverb
uk/əˈraʊnd/us/əˈraʊnd/around adverb (APPROXIMATELY)
A2 approximately:
around six feet tall
around two months ago
around four o'clock
She earns around $40,000 a year.
More examples
- The first election results are expected around 1 a.m.
- The temperature is usually around 20 degrees C at this time of year.
- This dish only takes around 15 minutes to prepare.
- He said that he had seen the man leaving the building around the time of the murder.
- Tickets for such events will typically cost around 30 dollars.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Approximate
- (a) sort of idiom
- -ish
- about
- approx
- approximate
- approximately
- effect
- loosely
- maybe
- more
- more or less idiom
- or so idiom
- round
- rule
- sense
- something
- something like 96 percent, half, etc. idiom
- somewhere
- sort
- sorta
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