1
as in to traverse
to travel completely around
the first ship to circumnavigate the globe
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in to bypass
to avoid by going around
we can circumnavigate the traffic jam if we take the next exit
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of circumnavigate
About 2,300 runners line up to circumnavigate Mont Blanc on foot—106 miles, 33,000 feet of climbing, and 10 alpine summits.
—
Sierra Shafer, Outside, 29 Aug. 2025
Enchanted Circle Drive The Enchanted Circle Drive circumnavigates Wheeler Peak, the highest mountain in New Mexico, and cuts through the lush Hondo Valley, past the Taos Pueblo, and into old gold mining towns.
—Evie Carrick, Travel + Leisure, 15 Aug. 2025
In the winter of 1999, Swiss explorer Bertrand Piccard and British flight instructor Brian Jones embark on an attempt to complete the last great aviation challenge of the 20th century – to circumnavigate the globe, nonstop in a hot-air balloon.
—Zac Ntim, Deadline, 14 Aug. 2025
And joining the Apollo 13 crew after having first served on Apollo 8, which intentionally circumnavigated the moon but did not land on its surface, made Lovell the first human ever to see the moon up close for a second time.
—Jackie Wattles, CNN Money, 8 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for circumnavigate
Sierra Shafer, Outside, 29 Aug. 2025
Enchanted Circle Drive The Enchanted Circle Drive circumnavigates Wheeler Peak, the highest mountain in New Mexico, and cuts through the lush Hondo Valley, past the Taos Pueblo, and into old gold mining towns.
—Evie Carrick, Travel + Leisure, 15 Aug. 2025
In the winter of 1999, Swiss explorer Bertrand Piccard and British flight instructor Brian Jones embark on an attempt to complete the last great aviation challenge of the 20th century – to circumnavigate the globe, nonstop in a hot-air balloon.
—Zac Ntim, Deadline, 14 Aug. 2025
And joining the Apollo 13 crew after having first served on Apollo 8, which intentionally circumnavigated the moon but did not land on its surface, made Lovell the first human ever to see the moon up close for a second time.
—Jackie Wattles, CNN Money, 8 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for circumnavigate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for circumnavigate
Verb
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Disney's Parr House overlooks Cotino Bay, a massive body of water that guests will also be able to traverse via different types of watercraft.—
Joey Nolfi,
Entertainment Weekly,
20 Oct. 2025
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There is also a dancing thread, taking the shape of the Quarona factory and circling the globe before arriving in New York, where a Loro Piana truck with raw fiber bales traverses the facade.—
David Moin,
Footwear News,
17 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Forecaster say the storm will head northeast and bypass Florida.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
28 Oct. 2025
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Bessent, who specialized in foreign exchange in a decades-long hedge fund career, organized a $20 billion foreign-exchange swap with Argentina’s central bank earlier this month — an unusual structure that bypassed the US Federal Reserve, which is typically the lead party in such arrangements.—
Daniel Flatley,
Fortune,
27 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Just before the robbery, the Jeep, which didn’t have a license plate, had circled the bank.—
Nathan Pilling,
Kansas City Star,
28 Oct. 2025
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Skinner also gave his TikTok followers a full 360° view of their Zootopia costumes with a video of them dancing in Times Square as a camera circled them.—
Zoey Lyttle,
PEOPLE,
28 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Cosmologists and mathematical physicists often seek ways to circumvent the theorem, looking to quantum gravity (or other non-standard scenarios) to break us out of the requirements that general relativity imposes.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
24 Oct. 2025
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And, though users can make the most of lackluster AI moderation (Grok Imagine) or figure out clever ways to circumvent guardrails (Sora) in order to misrepresent famous people, the greater danger probably comes from videos that purport to capture events involving unknown parties.—
Miles Klee,
Rolling Stone,
23 Oct. 2025
Verb
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While most satellite internet services operate from single geostationary satellites orbiting Earth at about 22,236 miles, Starlink is a constellation of thousands of satellites that operate from a low-Earth orbit, about 341 miles up.—
Eric Lagatta,
USA Today,
28 Oct. 2025
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Everything within the solar wind is inside the Sun’s extended atmosphere, known as the heliosphere, which means that, in a sense, Earth orbits through the Sun itself.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
27 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Of course, anyone with a tree-nut allergy should avoid almond butter altogether.—
Daryl Austin,
USA Today,
24 Oct. 2025
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Tillery also advises her clients to skip overpacking and go with carry-on luggage to avoid unnecessary baggage fees or inconveniences if there are flight changes.—
Essence,
Essence,
24 Oct. 2025
Verb
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There is a lot of red—99 naval and coast guard vessels, to be precise, completely encircling Taiwan during PLA exercises last December.—
Charlie Campbell,
Time,
23 Oct. 2025
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In the same month the Germans encircled Leningrad and began the siege of the city.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
23 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Schuster said the angle at which the landing area crosses the Fujian’s deck is only 6 degrees off center, compared with 9 degrees on the US carriers, limiting space between the landing strip and the forward two catapults.—
Brad Lendon,
CNN Money,
26 Oct. 2025
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By the time of the centennial celebration in 1926 (a year late), tens of thousands of miles of railroad track crossed the country.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
26 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Circumnavigate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/circumnavigate. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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