surrounded

Surrounded is the past participle of the verb surround and can function as an adjective or participial phrase. It describes something that is enclosed on all sides or encompassed by something else. Surrounded objects or places are typically viewed as being encircled or bounded.

In geography and everyday description, a location can be surrounded by natural or artificial features: an island is surrounded by water; a fortress is surrounded by walls; a campus may be surrounded by a fence. The construction emphasizes enclosure rather than an open boundary.

In biology and materials science, structures are described as surrounded by membranes, tissue, or matrix: a cell is surrounded by a plasma membrane; organelles may be surrounded by cytosol; a particle can be surrounded by a cloud of electrons.

In social contexts, people can be surrounded by friends, supporters, or media attention, where "surrounded" conveys a sense of company, pressure, or presence on all sides.

Related terms include surround (verb), enclosure, encirclement, hem in, envelop; synonyms and close relatives. The phrase "surrounded by" is common in descriptive prose and reporting.