circumvent

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cir·cum·vent

(sûr′kəm-vĕnt′)

tr.v. cir·cum·vent·ed, cir·cum·vent·ing, cir·cum·vents

1. To surround (an enemy, for example); enclose or entrap.

2. To go around; bypass: circumvented the city.

3. To avoid or get around by artful maneuvering: circumvented the bureaucratic red tape.

[Middle English circumventen, from Latin circumvenīre, circumvent- : circum-, circum- + venīre, to go, come; see g^wā- in Indo-European roots.]

cir′cum·vent′er, cir′cum·ven′tor n.

cir′cum·ven′tion n.

cir′cum·ven′tive adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

circumvent

(ˌsɜːkəmˈvɛnt)

vb (tr)

1. to evade or go around

2. to outwit

3. (Military) to encircle (an enemy) so as to intercept or capture

[C15: from Latin circumvenīre, from circum- + venīre to come]

ˌcircumˈventer, ˌcircumˈventor n

ˌcircumˈvention n

ˌcircumˈventive adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

cir•cum•vent

(ˌsɜr kəmˈvɛnt, ˈsɜr kəmˌvɛnt)

v.t.

1. to go around or bypass: to circumvent the lake; to circumvent a problem.

2. to avoid by artfulness; elude: to circumvent defeat.

3. to surround or encompass, as by stratagem; entrap.

[1545–55; < Latin circumventus, past participle of circumvenīre to come around, surround =circum- circum- + venīre to come]

cir`cum•vent′er, cir`cum•ven′tor, n.

cir`cum•ven′tion, n.

cir`cum•ven′tive, adj.

circumvent

Past participle: circumvented
Gerund: circumventing

Imperative
circumvent
circumvent

Present
I circumvent
you circumvent
he/she/it circumvents
we circumvent
you circumvent
they circumvent

Preterite
I circumvented
you circumvented
he/she/it circumvented
we circumvented
you circumvented
they circumvented

Present Continuous
I am circumventing
you are circumventing
he/she/it is circumventing
we are circumventing
you are circumventing
they are circumventing

Present Perfect
I have circumvented
you have circumvented
he/she/it has circumvented
we have circumvented
you have circumvented
they have circumvented

Past Continuous
I was circumventing
you were circumventing
he/she/it was circumventing
we were circumventing
you were circumventing
they were circumventing

Past Perfect
I had circumvented
you had circumvented
he/she/it had circumvented
we had circumvented
you had circumvented
they had circumvented

Future
I will circumvent
you will circumvent
he/she/it will circumvent
we will circumvent
you will circumvent
they will circumvent

Future Perfect
I will have circumvented
you will have circumvented
he/she/it will have circumvented
we will have circumvented
you will have circumvented
they will have circumvented

Future Continuous
I will be circumventing
you will be circumventing
he/she/it will be circumventing
we will be circumventing
you will be circumventing
they will be circumventing

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been circumventing
you have been circumventing
he/she/it has been circumventing
we have been circumventing
you have been circumventing
they have been circumventing

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been circumventing
you will have been circumventing
he/she/it will have been circumventing
we will have been circumventing
you will have been circumventing
they will have been circumventing

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been circumventing
you had been circumventing
he/she/it had been circumventing
we had been circumventing
you had been circumventing
they had been circumventing

Conditional
I would circumvent
you would circumvent
he/she/it would circumvent
we would circumvent
you would circumvent
they would circumvent

Past Conditional
I would have circumvented
you would have circumvented
he/she/it would have circumvented
we would have circumvented
you would have circumvented
they would have circumvented

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Verb	1.	circumvent - surround so as to force to give up; "The Turks besieged Vienna" besiege, hem in, beleaguer, surround attack, assail - launch an attack or assault on; begin hostilities or start warfare with; "Hitler attacked Poland on September 1, 1939 and started World War II"; "Serbian forces assailed Bosnian towns all week" seal off, blockade - impose a blockade on ebb - hem in fish with stakes and nets so as to prevent them from going back into the sea with the ebb
	2.	circumvent - beat through cleverness and wit; "I beat the traffic"; "She outfoxed her competitors" outsmart, outwit, overreach, outfox, beat beat, beat out, vanquish, trounce, crush, shell - come out better in a competition, race, or conflict; "Agassi beat Becker in the tennis championship"; "We beat the competition"; "Harvard defeated Yale in the last football game" outdo, outgo, outmatch, outperform, outstrip, surpass, exceed, surmount - be or do something to a greater degree; "her performance surpasses that of any other student I know"; "She outdoes all other athletes"; "This exceeds all my expectations"; "This car outperforms all others in its class"
	3.	circumvent - avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing (duties, questions, or issues); "He dodged the issue"; "she skirted the problem"; "They tend to evade their responsibilities"; "he evaded the questions skillfully" evade, hedge, sidestep, skirt, parry, fudge, dodge, elude, duck, put off beg - dodge, avoid answering, or take for granted; "beg the question"; "beg the point in the discussion" quibble - evade the truth of a point or question by raising irrelevant objections avoid - stay clear from; keep away from; keep out of the way of someone or something; "Her former friends now avoid her"

circumvent

verb

1. (Formal) evade, bypass, elude, steer clear of, sidestep Military rulers tried to circumvent the treaty.

2. outwit, trick, mislead, thwart, deceive, dupe, beguile, outflank, hoodwink It is a veiled attempt to change gun laws by circumventing legislators.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

circumvent

verb

1. To pass around but not through:

bypass, circumnavigate, detour, go around, skirt.

2. To keep away from:

avoid, burke, bypass, dodge, duck, elude, escape, eschew, evade, get around, shun.

Idioms: fight shy of, give a wide berth to, have no truck with, keep clear of.

Translations

umgehen

cerner circuler contourner éviter parer

aggirare eludere evitare prendere in trappola

circumvent

[ˌsɜːkəmˈvent] VT [+ law, rule] → burlar; [+ difficulty, obstacle] → salvar, evitar

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

circumvent

[ˌsɜː^rkəmˈvɛnt] vt [+ rule, restriction] → contourner

circumvent

vt → umgehen

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

circumvent

[ˌsɜːkəmˈvɛnt] vt (frm) (rule) → aggirare

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References in classic literature ?

Nevertheless our experience has been that those princes who have done great things have held good faith of little account, and have known how to circumvent the intellect of men by craft, and in the end have overcome those who have relied on their word.

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"Offer your prayers to Him who can give us wisdom to circumvent the cunning of the devils who fill these woods," calmly interrupted the scout, "but spare your offers of money, which neither you may live to realize, nor I to profit by.

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As we turned into the shrubbery path, I attempted to circumvent him in another way.

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Perchance they were seeking some method to circumvent the forest people.

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During our boyhood our parents tried to distinguish us more obviously by our clothing and other simple devices, but we would so frequently exchange suits and otherwise circumvent the enemy that they abandoned all such ineffectual attempts, and during all the years that we lived together at home everybody recognized the difficulty of the situation and made the best of it by calling us both "Jehnry." I have often wondered at my father's forbearance in not branding us conspicuously upon our unworthy brows, but as we were tolerably good boys and used our power of embarrassment and annoyance with commendable moderation, we escaped the iron.

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The bell, hung on the door by means of a curved ribbon of steel, was difficult to circumvent. It was hopelessly cracked; but of an evening, at the slightest provocation, it clattered behind the customer with impudent virulence.

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they must circumvent arid Nature exactly as I circumvent sordid Man.

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If I only knew how to circumvent the cunning of the Tetons, as I know how to cheat the fire of its prey, there would be nothing needed but thanks to the Lord for our deliverance.

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I passed out of the room, reflecting that it would not be easy to circumvent her.

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When within about five hundred yards of us, the main or centre column halted at the root of a tongue of open plain which ran up into the hill, to give time to the other divisions to circumvent our position, which was shaped more or less in the form of a horse-shoe, with its two points facing towards the town of Loo.

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Miss Chalice, who had a clever dexterity which impressed Lawson notwithstanding his contempt for feminine art, started a picture in which she tried to circumvent the commonplace by leaving out the tops of the trees; and Lawson had the brilliant idea of putting in his foreground a large blue advertisement of chocolat Menier in order to emphasise his abhorrence of the chocolate box.

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We have circumvented Cromwell, Mordaunt, and the sea, but we shall find a certain difficulty in circumventing Mazarin."