SURROUNDINGS

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

I. (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The area in which something exists or lives

Example:

the country--the flat agricultural surround

Synonyms:

environment; environs; surround; surroundings

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Hypernyms ("surroundings" is a kind of...):

geographic area; geographic region; geographical area; geographical region (a demarcated area of the Earth)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "surroundings"):

ambiance; ambience (the atmosphere of an environment)

medium (the surrounding environment)

scene; setting (the context and environment in which something is set)

element (the most favorable environment for a plant or animal)

habitat; home ground (the type of environment in which an organism or group normally lives or occurs)

melting pot (an environment in which many ideas and races are socially assimilated)

parts (the local environment)

Derivation:

surround (extend on all sides of simultaneously; encircle)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The environmental condition

Synonyms:

milieu; surroundings

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("surroundings" is a kind of...):

environment (the totality of surrounding conditions)

Credits

Context examples:

A black hole destroying a star, an event astronomers call "stellar tidal disruption," releases an enormous amount of energy, brightening the surroundings in an event called a flare.

(Studies Find Echoes of Black Holes Eating Stars, NASA)

Having completed my survey of the horizon, I turned to my more immediate surroundings.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

The house was invisible from the road, but the surroundings all spoke of gloom and decay.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Diffusion of elements works to get the crystal into chemical equilibrium with its surroundings.

(‘Crystal clocks’ used to time magma storage before volcanic eruptions, University of Cambridge)

There was, therefore, as can be imagined, some little social friction when the young couple (for they were still young) found themselves in their new surroundings.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It was hard to believe that amongst so prosaic surroundings of neglect and dust and decay there was any ground for such fear as already we knew.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

And so, according to the clay of his nature and the pressure of his surroundings, his character was being moulded into a certain particular shape.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

The mental process of thinking, learning, remembering, being aware of surroundings, and using judgment.

(Cognition, NCI Dictionary)

Cancer epidemiology involves the study of how physical surroundings, occupational hazards and personal habits (smoking, diet and lifestyle) may contribute to the development of cancer.

(Cancer Epidemiology, NCI Thesaurus)

In or of the immediately surrounding area; relating to the immediate surroundings of something.