around

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1. In general, British English prefers round and American English prefers around, both as an adverb and as a preposition, except in certain more or less fixed expressions or restricted collocations. In British English it is usual to say all the year round, Winter comes round, The wheels go round, Send the book round, Show me round, whereas in all these cases American English would normally use around.

2. Around is obligatory in fixed expressions such as fool around, mess around, sit around, etc, all around (as in All around there are signs of decay), and to have been around. In some of these, about is also possible, but not round.

3. British English still tends to prefer about as a preposition meaning 'approximately', although around is also used (e.g. There are about/around 100 in all / Come about/around 4 o'clock), whereas American English generally prefers around. See about.

4. However, the distribution of around and round is subject to considerable variation in practice, as the following examples show: (around as preposition)

Jesse...moped around the house all day—Lee Smith, American English 1983

The area around Waterloo—R. Elms, British English 1988

They stood grouped around their luggage—M. Bracewell, British English 1989

(round as preposition)

A map rolled up round a broom handle—Jeanette Winterson, British English 1985

He looked round the table as if daring anyone to smile—David Lodge, 1988

(around as adverb) Stay around till she gets back—New Yorker, American English 1989

Hartmann's sunny...attitude was marvellous to have around—Anita Brookner, British English 1988

The devices have been around a while—USA Today, American English 1988

I went around to the front door—New Yorker, American English 1989

(round as adverb) In the end she talked me round—Nina Bawden, British English 1987

The news had gotten round pretty fast—New Yorker, American English 1998.

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adverb

1. In or toward a former location or condition: about, back, backward, backwards, rearward, round. See approach/retreat.
2. Toward the back: about, back, backward, backwards, rearward. See precede/follow.
3. From one end to the other: over, round, through, throughout. See part/whole.

adjective

Having existence or life: alive, existent, existing, extant, living. See live/die.

In addition to the idioms beginning with around, also see beat about (around) the bush; been around; boss someone around; bring around; cast about (around); come around; enough to go around; every time one turns around; fool around; fuck around; full circle (what goes around comes around); get around; get around to; go around in circles; hang around; horse around; kick around; kid around; knock about (around); know one's way around; mess around; nose about (around); pal around with; play around; poke around; push around; rally around; roll around; run around in circles; run around like a chicken; run around with; run rings around; screw around; scrounge around; shop around; sleep around; stick around; talk around; tear around; throw one's weight around; turn around; twist around one's finger; up and about (around). Also see under round.

IN BRIEF: In a circle or path that surrounds.

Most people spend more time and energy going around problems than in trying to solve them. — Henry Ford (1863-1947), American engineer & industrialist, founder of Ford Motor in 1903.

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sign description: One S-hand makes a semicircle around the opposite index finger.

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For a list of words related to around, see:

• Prepositions
• Reflections and References
• Approximations and Generalizations
• Relative Positions - around: (adv) on all sides; nearby; here and there

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See words rhyming with "around."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Around.

Dansk (Danish)
adv. - rundt, rundt om, omkring
prep. - rundt om, omkring, hele vejen rundt om
adj. - omkring

idioms:

• all around    overalt, allevegne
• around it    rundt omkring det
• around the clock    døgnet rundt
• around the corner    omkring hjørnet, rundt om hjørnet
• get around    komme omkring, se sig omkring
• get around to    komme til, nå frem til
• go around    løbe rundt
• go around with    komme sammen med
• to have been around    have set den store verden, have gjort sine erfaringer

Nederlands (Dutch)
in de buurt van, rondom, in het rond, hier en daar, omstreeks, ongeveer, aanwezig, overal en nergens, ergens omheen

Français (French)
adv. - autour, tout autour, de tous côtés, dans les parages, quelque part, en ce moment
prep. - autour de, à travers, près de, vers, le tour de, alentour, après, (fig) à deux pas, (fig) pour demain, dans, par, quelque part, environ, à peu près
adj. - tout autour, de tous côtés

idioms:

• all around    tout autour, de tous côtés
• around the clock    24 heures sur 24
• around the corner    (être) au coin (de la rue)
• get around    se répandre, éviter
• get around to    contourner
• go around    courir, parcourir, aller, avancer, s'y prendre pour, vaquer à
• go around with    fréquenter, sortir avec
• to have been around    ne pas être né d'hier, avoir de l'expérience, avoir pas mal roulé sa bosse

Deutsch (German)
adv. - in der Nähe, im Kreis, überall, außen herum
prep. - um, rund um, gegen, ungefähr
adj. - in der Nähe, im Kreis, überall

idioms:

• all around    rund um
• around the clock    rund um die Uhr
• around the corner    um die Ecke
• get around    ausweichen, umgehen, überreden, sich verbreiten, sich herumsprechen, umgehen, sich herumsprechen, umherreisen
• get around to    zu etwas kommen
• go around    kursieren, sich herumsprechen, herumgehen, umgehen, vorbeigehen, reichen
• go around with    verkehren mit
• to have been around    viel herumgekommen sein

Ελληνική (Greek)
prep. - γύρω από, περίπου, περί, κοντά
adv. - (τρι)γύρω, ολόγυρα, περίπου, κοντά

idioms:

• all around    ολόγυρα
• around it    γύρω του
• around the clock    ολόκληρο το 24ωρο
• around the corner    μόλις στρίψεις τη γωνιά, εδώ κοντά
• come around    συνέρχομαι, ανακτώ τις αισθήσεις μου, ενδίδω, πείθομαι, επισκέπτομαι
• get around    τριγυρίζω, κυκλοφορώ, διαδίδομαι, μεταπείθω
• get around to    βρίσκω χρόνο να ασχοληθώ
• go around    κυκλοφορώ, περιφέρομαι, φτουρώ, επαρκώ
• go around with    κυκλοφορώ με
• to have been around    είμαι περπατημένος

Italiano (Italian)
intorno a, nei dintorni di, attorno a, circa, all'incirca, pressappoco, attorno, intorno

idioms:

• around it    intorno
• get around    eludere, diffondersi
• go around    gironzolare
• to have been around    aver vissuto

Português (Portuguese)
prep. - em redor de, em volta de
adv. - ao redor, em volta, em torno

idioms:

• all around    numa volta fechada
• around it    ao redor
• get around    tornar-se conhecido, espalhar-se, enganar, mover-se, viajar
• get around to    encontrar ou empregar tempo ou esforços, dar atenção a
• go around    ter o suficiente para todos
• go around with    discutir com veemência
• to have been around    ter passado por muitas situações

Русский (Russian)
кругом, вокруг, рядом, поблизости, около (о времени), приблизительно, почти, повсюду, быть доступным

idioms:

• all around    повсюду
• around it    недалеко
• get around    распространяться, уговорить кого-либо, обойти что-либо, обхаживать, уговаривать, обходить (закон, проблему)
• get around to    справляться
• go around    распространяться, обойти кругом, вращаться, циркулировать, наносить неформальный визит
• go around with    находиться в компании с, дружить, гулять с кем-л.
• to have been around    набраться опыта

Español (Spanish)
adv. - aproximadamente, casi, alrededor, en torno, por aquí, por allá, cercanamente
prep. - cerca de, alrededor de, en torno a, a eso de, casi, por aquí, por allá
adj. - alrededor, en torno, por aquí, por allá

idioms:

• all around    todo alrededor
• around the clock    durante 24 horas
• around the corner    a la vuelta de la esquina
• get around    viajar, salir, divulgarse, propalarse
• get around to    viajar, salir, difundirse, propagarse, soslayar, evitar, saber manejar, llegar a
• go around    dar la vuelta, dar un rodeo, girar, circular, correr, ir a casa de, ir a ver a
• go around with    tener citas frecuentes con, andar con
• to have been around    haber corrido mundo, tener experiencia

Svenska (Swedish)
prep. - runt om, runt omkring
adv. - runt omkring, överallt

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
到处, 四处, 向相反方向, 周围, 附近, 环绕, 围绕, 在...附近, 在...四处, 绕过, 存在着的, 可得到的, 活跃的, 走动的

idioms:

• all around    周围, 到处
• around it    在...周围
• around the clock    日夜
• around the corner    在拐角处
• get around    到处走动, 传播出去, 逃避
• get around to    抽出时间来做
• go around    四处走动, 足够分配, 探望
• go around with    跟...来往
• to have been around    很有经验, 见过世面

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adv. - 到處, 四處, 向相反方向, 周圍, 附近, 環繞
prep. - 圍繞, 環繞, 在...附近, 在...四處, 繞過
adj. - 存在著的, 可得到的, 活躍的, 走動的

idioms:

• all around    周圍, 到處
• around it    在...周圍
• around the clock    日夜
• around the corner    在拐角處
• get around    到處走動, 傳播出去, 逃避
• get around to    抽出時間來做
• go around    四處走動, 足夠分配, 探望
• go around with    跟...來往
• to have been around    很有經驗, 見過世面

한국어 (Korean)
adv. - 주위에[여기저기], 돌아서, 의식을 되찾아
prep. - 의 주위에, 약, 을 돌아서
adj. - 주위의, 여기저기의

idioms:

• get around    걸어 돌아다니다, 퍼지다, 이겨내다, 속이다
• get around to    까지 손이 미치다, 여유가 있다
• go around    한 바퀴 돌만큼 차이가 있다, 골고루 차례가 돌아가다
• go around with    정기적으로 만나서 다른 장소에 가다
• to have been around    여러 가지 경험을 쌓고 있다

日本語 (Japanese)
adv. - 周りを回って, 向きを変えて, 周囲が, 行き渡るように, あちこちに, 居る所へ, 回り道をして, 避けて
prep. - 周りを, 曲がって, 周りに, 辺りに, ぐるりと, …のあちこちに, …ぐらい, …ごろ, あちらこちらに

idioms:

• all around    いたるところ, 皆に, …だけ, ありったけの
• around it    その辺で
• around one's neck    邪魔をする
• around the corner    角を曲がった所に, 間近に
• come around    やって来る, 訪れる, 同調する
• get around    動き回る, あちこち旅行する, 広まる, 説き伏せる, 説き伏せて…させる, 回避する
• get around to    …する機会を見いだす, 取りかかる
• go around    歩き回る, 広まる, 付き合う
• go around with    親しく付き合う
• to have been around    世間を知っている

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(حرف جر) حوالي, تقريبا, متواجد (ظرف) حول في مكان ما‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adv. - ‮מסביב, מסביב ל-, סביב, פה ושם בסביבה, בקרבת מקום, באקראי, קיים‬
prep. - ‮סביב-סביב, קרוב ל-, מכל צד, פה ושם, בערך ב-‬
adj. - ‮בסביבה, קרוב ל-‬

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