Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

7 ADV [ADV after v] You use around in expressions such as sit around and hang around when you are saying that someone is spending time in a place and not doing anything very important. □  After breakfast the next morning they sat around for an hour discussing political affairs. ● PREP Around is also a preposition. □  He used to skip lessons and hang around the harbor with some other boys.

8 ADV [ADV after v] If you move things around , you move them so that they are in different places. □  She moved things around so the table was beneath the windows.

9 ADV [ADV after v] If a wheel or object turns around , it turns. □  The boat started to spin around in the water.

10 PREP You use around to say that something happens in different parts of a place or area. □  Elephants were often to be found in swamp in eastern Kenya around the Tana River. □  …pests and diseases around the garden. ● ADV [ADV after v, n ADV ] Around is also an adverb. □  Giovanni has the best Parma ham for miles around.

11 ADV If someone or something is around , they exist or are present in a place. □  The blackbird had a quick, wary look in case the cat was anywhere around. □  Just having lots of people around that you can talk to is important.

12 PREP The people around you are the people who you come into contact with, especially your friends and relatives, and the people you work with. □  We change our behaviour by observing the behaviour of those around us. □  Those around her would forgive her for weeping.

13 PREP If something such as a film, a discussion, or a plan is based around something, that thing is its main theme. □  …the gentle comedy based around the Larkin family. □  The discussion centered around four subjects.

14 ADV [n ADV , ADV after v] You use around in expressions such as this time around or to come around when you are describing something that has happened before or things that happen regularly. □  Senator Bentsen has declined to get involved this time around. □  When July Fourth comes around, the residents of Columbia City throw a noisy party.

15 PREP When you are giving measurements, you can use around to talk about the distance along the edge of something round. □  She was 40 inches around the hips.

16 ADV Around means approximately. □  My salary was around £39,000 plus a car and expenses. ● PREP Around is also a preposition. □  He expects the elections to be held around November.

17 PHRASE Around about means approximately. [SPOKEN ] □  There is a Green party but it only scored around about 10 percent in the vote.

18 PHRASE You say all around to indicate that something affects all parts of a situation or all members of a group. □  He compared the achievements of the British and the French during 1916 and concluded that the latter were better all around.

19 PHRASE If someone has been around , they have had a lot of experience of different people and situations. [INFORMAL ]

20the other way around → see way

arou nd-the-clo ck → see clock

arous|al /əraʊ z ^ə l/

1 N‑UNCOUNT Arousal is the state of being sexually excited. □  …sexual arousal. □  Use this technique to control your level of arousal.

2 N‑UNCOUNT Arousal is a state in which you feel excited or very alert, for example as a result of fear, stress, or anger. □  Thinking angry thoughts can provoke strong physiological arousal.

arouse /əraʊ z/ (arouses , arousing , aroused )