encircle

[ en-sur-kuh l ]

/ ɛnˈsɜr kəl /

to form a circle around; surround; encompass: to encircle an enemy.

to make a circling movement around; make the circuit of.

Origin of encircle

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at en-¹, circle

en·cir·cle·ment, noun un·en·cir·cled, adjective

Plus “The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth/And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath”?

Keep Christmas Commercialized! |P. J. O’Rourke |December 6, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
De Merode is hundreds of miles from his wife and daughters, encircled by hostile forces, a target on the back of his uniform.

A Belgian Prince, Gorillas, Guerrillas & the Future of the Congo |Nina Strochlic |November 6, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
With Donetsk now encircled, the stage is set for a final and potentially very bloody urban showdown.

As the Key Battle Looms, a Report from Ukraine's Front Lines |Jamie Dettmer |August 13, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
The 7,000-ton freighter is still stocked with sake bottles and four fighter planes, and it is encircled by gray reef.

A WWII Battle Frozen in Time |Nina Strochlic |May 14, 2014 |DAILY BEAST

In the middle of the courtyard, where the public apparitions took place, a large shrine is encircled by benches.

Did the Virgin Mary Warn Rwanda’s Holiest Town of the Genocide? |Nina Strochlic |April 20, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
It really was a wild tarn, placed in the pocket of the mountains that encircled it.

Girl Scouts in the Rockies |Lillian Elizabeth Roy
Then she threw herself upon me and encircled me with her arms.

A Beleaguered City |Mrs. Oliphant
Nine hundred thousand men in arms (p. 521)encircled the French empire, which was defended by seven hundred thousand.

A Modern History, From the Time of Luther to the Fall of Napoleon |John Lord, A.M.
Encircled by a range of hills is this, the best-looking large town in the interior of South Africa.

Seven Legs Across the Seas |Samuel Murray
The legends of Regnar Lodbrog, and of the huge snake in the Edda, by whose folds the world is encircled, are well known.

Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border Volume III (of 3) |Walter Scott

encircle

/ (ɪnˈsɜːkəl) /

(tr) to form a circle around; enclose within a circle; surround

encirclement, noun encircling, adjective