encompassing
Americanadjective
-
forming a circle around something; encircling or surrounding.
She serves the whole Anchorage real estate market, including the encompassing communities.
-
comprehensively including, addressing, or dealing with all parts or aspects of something.
Whether as a regular treatment or a special indulgence, your fully encompassing spa experience will leave you looking and feeling fantastic!
-
fully enclosing or enveloping something.
As she looked out reflectively over the lake, the encompassing quiet was sliced by the shrill sound of her cell phone.
noun
Etymology
Origin of encompassing
First recorded in 1565–75; encompass ( def. ) + -ing 2 ( def. ) for the adjective senses; encompass ( def. ) + -ing 1 ( def. ) for the noun sense
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The evacuation order was unprecedented in scale, encompassing a 6-square-mile, densely populated residential area with hundreds of thousands of people.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 5, 2026
"To be recognised by you all, 'thank you' does not come anywhere near to encompassing what we feel, the gratitude," Lindo said.
From BBC • Mar. 2, 2026
The analyst expects to see persistent strength in CAS, a product category encompassing technologies that treat heart rhythm disorders.
From Barron's • Feb. 17, 2026
Retail sales of new-energy vehicles, a term encompassing EVs and hybrid cars, fell 20% to 596,000 units in the first month of 2026, the China Passenger Car Association said Thursday.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 12, 2026
The estate was a huge piece of land, acres, encompassing a horse bam, a large vegetable garden, and a pool, tended by a young white caretaker named Harry.
From "The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother" by James McBride
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
