around

 Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 5++朗文当代英语 5++LDOCE 5++朗文 5++a·round /əˈraʊnd/ ●●● S1 W1 adverb, preposition  1  AROUND/ROUNDsurrounding or on all sides of something or someone 环绕，在（…）周围 SYN British English round The whole family was sitting around the dinner table. 全家人围坐在饭桌旁。 The Romans built a defensive wall around the city. 罗马人在城市周围筑起一道防御墙。 She wore a beautiful silk shawl around her shoulders. 她在肩上围了一条漂亮的真丝披肩。 People crowded around to see what was happening. 人们挤在四周围观。 We would hear the birds singing all around us. 我们会听见四周鸟儿在唱歌。2  moving in a circle 旋转；围绕 SYN round British English A helicopter was circling around, looking for somewhere to land. 直升机盘旋着寻找降落地点。 They danced around the bonfire. 他们围着篝火跳舞。3  in or to many places or parts of an area 到处，四处 SYN British English about He wandered around the streets, looking in shop windows. 他在街上闲逛，看看商店橱窗。 There are over 40 radio stations dotted around the country. 有40多家广播电台分布在全国各地。 When I finished college, I travelled around for a while. 大学毕业以后，我到处旅游了一段时间。 Since it’s your first day here, would you like me to show you around? 你第一天到这儿，要我带你四处转转吗？ We started looking around for somewhere to live. 我们开始到处找住的地方。4  a) British English in an area near a place or person 在（…）附近，在（…）近处 SYN round Is there a bank around here? 这附近有银行吗？ When you’ve been around a person long enough, you start to know how they’ll react. 和一个人相处久了就会了解他的处事态度。 the new housing areas in and around Dublin 都柏林及其周围的新住宅区 Catherine was the most beautiful girl for miles around. 凯瑟琳是方圆几英里内最漂亮的女孩子。 b) if someone or something is around, they are somewhere in the place where you are 在（…）身边 Why is there never a policeman around when you need one? 当你需要警察的时候为什么从来一个也找不到呢？ Jake went down to the bar, but there was no one around that he knew. 杰克去了酒吧，但是周围一个人都不认识。 Is your dad around? 你爸爸在吗？ The list is somewhere around. 清单就在这里的某个地方。5  British English on the other side of something, or to the other side of it without going through it or over it 绕过 SYN round If the gate’s locked, you’ll have to go around the side of the house. 如果大门锁上了，你们就得从房子侧面绕过去。 There’s a door around the back. 从后面绕过去有一扇门。 She ran around the corner and straight into the arms of John Delaney. 她跑过拐角，和约翰·德莱尼撞了个满怀。6  used to say that someone or something turns so that they face in the opposite direction 掉转；掉头 SYN round British English Rex spun around and kicked the gun from her hand. 雷克斯一个转身踢飞了她手中的枪。 Slowly he turned the boat around towards the open sea. 他慢慢掉转船头，驶向茫茫大海。7  (also around about) used when guessing a number, amount, time etc, without being exact 大约 There must have been around 40,000 people in the stadium. 体育场里肯定有4万人左右。 The whole project will probably cost around $3 million. 整个工程可能约耗资300万美元。 Most guests started to make their way home around about ten o'clock. 大多数客人10点钟左右开始回家了。► see thesaurus at approximate8  existing 存在着 SYN about British English That joke’s been around for years. 那个笑话有年头了。 Manson has a reputation as one of the most stylish designers around. 曼森被誉为如今最有格调的设计师之一。9  if something is organized around a particular person or thing, it is organized according to their needs, wishes, ideas etc 围绕，以…为中心；根据 Why does everything have to be arranged around what Callum wants to do? 为什么每一件事都要迁就卡勒姆？ Their whole society was built around their religious beliefs. 他们的整个社会都建立在他们的宗教信仰基础之上。10  used to show that someone spends time in a place without doing anything useful 闲散地，无所事事地 SYN about British English I’ve been waiting around all morning. 整个早上我都在无聊地等待。 They could be seen hanging around street corners, watching the girls go by. 可以看到他们在街角闲荡，盯着来往的女孩。11  a way around a difficult situation or problem is a way to solve it or avoid it 解决，克服；避免 SYN round British English We must find a way around these difficulties. 我们必须想办法克服这些困难。 The company is expected to get around this problem by borrowing from the banks. 预计公司会向银行贷款解决这个问题。12  to other people or positions 传，递；挪 SYN round British English Write your name on this list and pass it around. 在名单上写下你的名字，再传给别人。 Someone’s been moving the furniture around. 有人一直在搬挪家具。13  have been around  (also have been around the block a few times) informal a) to have had experience of many different situations so that you can deal with new situations confidently 见过世面，经验丰富 You could tell this guy had been around a bit by the knowing way he talked. 看他讲起来无所不知的样子，就知道这家伙是见过些世面的。 b) to have had many sexual experiences – used humorously 性经验丰富〔幽默用法〕14  American English used to show the length of a line surrounding something 以圆周计算 Redwood trees can measure 30 or 40 feet around. 红杉树合抱可达30或40英尺。 → round1, → get around (something) at get around, → go around in circles at circle1(5)

Examples from the Corpus

around• Don't leave all your clothes lying around.• It was 11:30 at night, and no one was around.• Since it's your first day here, would you like me to show you around?• I'll turn the car around and pick you up at the door.• Reporters crowded around as Jensen left the courtroom.• I think the B-52's were the best band around at the time.• When I finished college, I traveled around for a while before I got my first job.• That joke's been around for years.• The children were dancing around in a circle.• Kevin spun his chair around to greet me as I walked into his office.all around• The prison had high walls all around.• She saw it happening all around her.• The poor are winning; they are all around, making themselves felt.• Why not the women I saw all around me, working from before dawn to dark?• There were flowers all around the apartment.• All around the coast the story is similar.• All around the crater, figures were standing in attitudes of paralyzed astonishment.• Door gunners all around us were pulverizing the ground around him, but Leese had not given our gunners permission to fire.• Horns were blaring all around us.• Pure-hearted men are all around you.somewhere around• Your house current is somewhere around 110 volts, which is enough to fry everything inside your machine.• From quite an early age I was expected to be somewhere around.• There was no definite sound, but he knew that Mabel would be somewhere around.• She had not specified, but somewhere around four thirty to five would have been a reasonable time to return.• All the heavy materials came from junk spinning somewhere around in the solar system.• She was probably the oldest woman in the village, being somewhere around sixty.• I rolled forward, hoping there would be a parking pad somewhere around the bend coming up.• It came from somewhere around the corner.around the corner• "Is there a bank near here?'' "Sure, it's just around the corner.''• We rented a baking facility around the corner.• Caricature was just around the corner.• The car screeched around the corner after him in a burst of fumes and querulous voices.• They claim that news is just around the corner, and that it will be on us before we know it.• She might think we're just around the corner and that we're not coming to see her.• We met in a bar just around the corner from my apartment.• Out in the street afterwards they wandered around the corner into Leicester Square to see the Christmas lights.• He clenched his teeth together but the first syllable forced itself around the corner of his mouth.• Around the corner, the public waits in a long line for a chance to eat breakfast in a Senate restaurant.

a·round adverbChineseSyllable  

surrounding on or of all something or sides Corpus

around
a‧round S1 W1 /əˈraʊnd/ adverb, preposition
1. surrounding or on all sides of something or someone
   SYN  round British English:
    The whole family was sitting around the dinner table.
    The Romans built a defensive wall around the city.
    She wore a beautiful silk shawl around her shoulders.
    People crowded around to see what was happening.
    We would hear the birds singing all around us.
2. moving in a circle
   SYN  round British English:
    A helicopter was circling around, looking for somewhere to land.
    They danced around the bonfire.
3. in or to many places or parts of an area
   SYN  about British English:
    He wandered around the streets, looking in shop windows.
    There are over 40 radio stations dotted around the country.
    When I finished college, I travelled around for a while.
    Since it’s your first day here, would you like me to show you around?
    We started looking around for somewhere to live.
4.
  a. British English in an area near a place or person
   SYN  round:
    Is there a bank around here?
    When you’ve been around a person long enough, you start to know how they’ll react.
    the new housing areas in and around Dublin
    Catherine was the most beautiful girl for miles around.
  b. if someone or something is around, they are somewhere in the place where you are:
    Why is there never a policeman around when you need one?
    Jake went down to the bar, but there was no one around that he knew.
    Is your dad around?
    The list is somewhere around.
5. British English on the other side of something, or to the other side of it without going through it or over it
   SYN  round:
    If the gate’s locked, you’ll have to go around the side of the house.
    There’s a door around the back.
    She ran around the corner and straight into the arms of John Delaney.
6. used to say that someone or something turns so that they face in the opposite direction
   SYN  round British English:
    Rex spun around and kicked the gun from her hand.
    Slowly he turned the boat around towards the open sea.
7. (also around about) used when guessing a number, amount, time etc, without being exact:
    There must have been around 40,000 people in the stadium.
    The whole project will probably cost around $3 million.
    Most guests started to make their way home around about ten o'clock.
8. existing
   SYN  about British English:
    That joke’s been around for years.
    Manson has a reputation as one of the most stylish designers around.
9. if something is organized around a particular person or thing, it is organized according to their needs, wishes, ideas etc:
    Why does everything have to be arranged around what Callum wants to do?
    Their whole society was built around their religious beliefs.
10. used to show that someone spends time in a place without doing anything useful
   SYN  about British English:
    I’ve been waiting around all morning.
    They could be seen hanging around street corners, watching the girls go by.
11. a way around a difficult situation or problem is a way to solve it or avoid it
   SYN  round British English:
    We must find a way around these difficulties.
    The company is expected to get around this problem by borrowing from the banks.
12. to other people or positions
   SYN  round British English:
    Write your name on this list and pass it around.
    Someone’s been moving the furniture around.
13. have been around (also have been around the block a few times) informal
  a. to have had experience of many different situations so that you can deal with new situations confidently:
    You could tell this guy had been around a bit by the knowing way he talked.
  b. to have had many sexual experiences – used humorously
14. American English used to show the length of a line surrounding something:
    Redwood trees can measure 30 or 40 feet around.
⇨ round¹, ⇨ get around (something) at get around(1), ⇨ go around in circles at circle¹(5)
     

THESAURUS

   ▪ approximately more or less than a number or amount – used especially in technical or scientific contexts: The company had total revenues of approximately $2 million. | The disease affects approximately 10% of the adult population.
   ▪ about more or less than a number or amount. ‘About’ is the usual word to use in everyday English: It costs about $30 to get a visa. | There were about 50 people at the meeting.
   ▪ roughly /ˈrʌfli/ about – used when you are trying to give someone a general idea of the size, amount, or number of something: The two countries are roughly the same size. | Roughly how many miles do you travel a year?
   ▪ around about a number or time – used when you are guessing: I’ll be there around 5 o'clock. | The BBC broadcasts around 2,000 radio dramas every year.
   ▪ somewhere/something in the region of formal about – used with very large numbers or amounts: Last year he earned something in the region of $60 million. | It costs somewhere in the region of £100,000 to train a new doctor.
   ▪ or so informal about – used after a period of time, a number, or an amount: The journey takes an hour or so.
   ▪ circa /ˈsɜːkə $ ˈsɜːr-/ formal about – used with dates a long time ago in the past: The house was built circa 1530.
   ▪ or more used after a number or amount, when the total may be a lot more: A thirty-second commercial can cost £60,000 or more.
   ▪ upwards of more than a number or amount: The aircraft can carry upwards of 400 passengers.