envelopment

[ en-vel-uhp-muhnt ]

noun

1. an act of enveloping.
2. the state of being enveloped.
3. a wrapping or covering.
4. Military. an attack on an enemy's flank.

Other Words From

• preen·velop·ment noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of envelopment¹

First recorded in 1755–65; envelop + -ment

Example Sentences

Pleated wrapping and swathes of layering — sometimes in eye-popping hues such as vivid blue — created a sense of envelopment and protection.

From Seattle Times

But the statement added that "Ukrainian defence remains at risk from envelopment from the north and south".

From BBC

I hoped he had fallen away with his mind intact and felt the warm envelopment of darkness, as if perhaps he had returned to his beloved deep mine for one last time.

From Literature

This piece is one of many that are given rooms to themselves at PS1, in a succession of envelopments that can make a viewer feel like a laboratory rat.

From The New Yorker

The airfield is "one of the hubs from which ... Iraqi security forces, accompanied and advised by us as needed, will complete the southernmost envelopment of Mosul," he said.Lt.

From Reuters