1
as in wrapping
to encircle or bind with or as if with a belt
trees girdled the campus, essentially hiding it from view wire girdling the bundle of firewood
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in circling
to travel completely around
an asteroid belt that girdles the inner planets of the solar system
Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in surrounding
to form a circle around
the rings that famously girdle the planet Saturn
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of girdling
Also, the rootball should be inspected for circling or girdling roots.
—
Larry Figart, Florida Times-Union, 14 Jan. 2026
Removing this layer restricts the tree from moving water up from the roots or nutrients back down, a process known as girdling.
—Andy Wilcox, Better Homes & Gardens, 3 Nov. 2025
Larry Figart, Florida Times-Union, 14 Jan. 2026
Removing this layer restricts the tree from moving water up from the roots or nutrients back down, a process known as girdling.
—Andy Wilcox, Better Homes & Gardens, 3 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for girdling
Verb
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The fish can be dressed and refrigerated for up to 4 hours before wrapping in foil and cooking.—
The Washington Post,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
11 Mar. 2026
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The restaurant will also have seating wrapping around its exterior and a live music stage.—
Ana Gutierrez,
Austin American Statesman,
7 Mar. 2026
Verb
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There do not seem to be sharks circling.—
Xuan Juliana Wang,
Los Angeles Times,
12 Mar. 2026
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The character prompted a Hollywood backlash and global media storm last September after Van der Velden revealed in panel in the industry focused Zurich Summit that agents were circling the AI creation for representation.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
10 Mar. 2026
Verb
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There was no immediate word on the circumstances surrounding the vehicle driving off the pier.—
Carlos E. Castañeda,
CBS News,
17 Mar. 2026
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By continuously collecting and processing electromagnetic data, the system generated a detailed understanding of the surrounding signal environment.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
16 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The interior of the vehicle continues Lucid’s focus on a spacious cabin with significant storage and a large one-piece screen traversing most of the car’s front dash.—
Michael Wayland,
CNBC,
12 Mar. 2026
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The number of oil tankers traversing the strait has been in the single digits or zero each day for the past week, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence, compared to about 50 per day prior to the war.—
David Goldman,
CNN Money,
11 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Soon, that quarter-mile area encircling the Rockridge BART Station may be forced to welcome apartment complexes as tall as 75 feet, or roughly seven stories — more than double the 35-foot limit that the city currently allows.—
Shomik Mukherjee,
Mercury News,
10 Mar. 2026
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The sprawling Discover campus features a complex of four buildings encircling a large retention pond.—
Robert Channick,
Chicago Tribune,
5 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The orbiting outpost's Canadarm2 grappled Cygnus XL that day, berthing it to the Unity module.—
Mike Wall,
Space.com,
11 Mar. 2026
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And without a moon-orbiting relay, the far side is cut off from communicating with Earth.—
Lee Billings,
Scientific American,
10 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Girdling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/girdling. Accessed 18 Mar. 2026.
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