To encircle means to form a circle around something or to surround it completely. Picture a group of students gathering around a classmate who just found something interesting on the playground: they encircle her to get a better look. Or imagine a castle with walls that encircle it, protecting everything inside.

The word suggests a complete surrounding, like drawing a circle on paper without lifting your pencil. When a detective encircles a suspect's name on a list, she draws a loop all the way around it. When an army encircles an enemy position, it moves troops to block every escape route.

You can encircle things physically, like when you encircle your friend's shoulders with your arm for a photo, or more abstractly, like when fog encircles a mountaintop. The word emphasizes completeness: to truly encircle something means to go all the way around it, leaving no gaps. If you only go halfway around, you haven't encircled it.