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Around vs Over - What's the difference?

around | over |

As prepositions the difference between around and over

is that around is defining a circle or closed curve containing a thing while over is physical positioning.

As adjectives the difference between around and over

is that around is alive; existing while over is finished; ended or concluded.

As adverbs the difference between around and over

is that around is generally while over is thoroughly; completely; from beginning to end.

As a noun over is

a set of six legal balls bowled.

As an interjection over is

in radio communications: end of sentence, ready to receive reply.

around

English

(translation tables should match senses)

Alternative forms

* arownd (obsolete)

Preposition

(English prepositions)
  • Defining a circle or closed curve containing a thing.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author=(Henry Petroski)
  • , title= Geothermal Energy , volume=101, issue=4, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame. With more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to turn grist into meal.}}
  • Following the perimeter of a specified area and returning to the starting point.
  • Following a path which curves near an object, with the object on the inside of the curve.
  • *
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients, chapter=1 , passage=I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for. It twisted and turned, and, the first thing I knew, made a sudden bend around a bunch of bayberry scrub and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn.}}
  • *{{quote-book, year=1959, author=(Georgette Heyer), title=(The Unknown Ajax), chapter=1
  • , passage=But Richmond
  • Near; in the vicinity of.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-26, author=(Leo Hickman)
  • , volume=189, issue=7, page=26, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= How algorithms rule the world , passage=The use of algorithms in policing is one example of their increasing influence on our lives. And, as their ubiquity spreads, so too does the debate around whether we should allow ourselves to become so reliant on them – and who, if anyone, is policing their use.}}
  • At various places in.
  • * , chapter=10
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=Men that I knew around Wapatomac didn't wear high, shiny plug hats, nor yeller spring overcoats, nor carry canes with ivory heads as big as a catboat's anchor, as you might say.}}

    Derived terms

    * all around * aroundness * around the clock * around the bend * around the corner * around the world * bat around * beat around the bush * get around * go around * hang around * have been around * ring-around-the-rosy * round * run around/run-around/runaround * turn around/turnaround * wrap around/wraparound

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Alive; existing.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author= Lee S. Langston
  • , title= The Adaptable Gas Turbine , passage=Turbines have been around for a long time—windmills and water wheels are early examples. The name comes from the Latin turbo'', meaning ''vortex , and thus the defining property of a turbine is that a fluid or gas turns the blades of a rotor, which is attached to a shaft that can perform useful work.}}

    Derived terms

    * be around

    Adverb

    (-)
  • Generally.
  • From place to place.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5 , passage=Then came a maid with hand-bag and shawls, and after her a tall young lady.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-05-11, volume=407, issue=8835, page=80, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= The climate of Tibet: Pole-land , passage=Of all the transitions brought about on the Earth’s surface by temperature change, the melting of ice into water is the starkest. It is binary. And for the land beneath, the air above and the life around , it changes everything.}}
  • From one state or condition to an opposite or very different one; with a metaphorical change in direction; bringing about awareness or agreement.
  • (see bring around, come around)
    (see bring around, come around)
  • Partially or completely rotated, including to face in the opposite direction.
  • Derived terms

    (indicating repeated or continuous action) * boss around * fool around * fuck around * goof around * horse around * lie around * lounge around * mess around * monkey around * play around * shop around * sleep around (from place to place) * kick around * know one's way around * (soplink) * (soplink) * (soplink) * (soplink) * push around * (soplink)

    See also

    * about

    over

    English

    (wikipedia over)

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Finished; ended or concluded.
  • The show is over .

    Derived terms

    *

    Adverb

    (-)
  • Thoroughly; completely; from beginning to end.
  • * 1661 , , The Life of the most learned, reverend and pious Dr. H. Hammond
  • During the whole time of his abode in the university he generally spent thirteen hours of the day in study; by which assiduity besides an exact dispatch of the whole course of philosophy, he read over in a manner all classic authors that are extant
  • From an upright position to being horizontal.
  • Horizontally; left to right or right to left.
  • From one position or state to another.
  • Overnight (throughout the night).
  • Again; another time; once more; over again.
  • Noun

    (en noun)
  • (cricket) A set of six legal balls bowled.
  • Any surplus amount of money, goods delivered, etc.
  • * 2008 , G. Puttick, Sandy van Esch, The Principles and Practice of Auditing (page 609)
  • ...standard cash count forms used to record the count and any overs or unders.

    Preposition

    (English prepositions)
  • Physical positioning.
  • # On top of; above; higher than; further up.
  • #* (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) (1807-1882)
  • Over them gleamed far off the crimson banners of morning.
  • #* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=September-October, author=(Henry Petroski)
  • , magazine=(American Scientist), title= The Evolution of Eyeglasses , passage=The ability of a segment of a glass sphere to magnify whatever is placed before it was known around the year 1000, when the spherical segment was called a reading stone,
  • # Across or spanning.
  • #* (Francis Bacon) (1561-1626)
  • Certain lakespoison birds which fly over them.
  • #* , chapter=3
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=My hopes wa'n't disappointed. I never saw clams thicker than they was along them inshore flats. I filled my dreener in no time, and then it come to me that 'twouldn't be a bad idee to get a lot more, take 'em with me to Wellmouth, and peddle 'em out. Clams was fairly scarce over that side of the bay and ought to fetch a fair price.}}
  • #* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=72-3, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= A punch in the gut , passage=Mostly, the microbiome is beneficial. It helps with digestion and enables people to extract a lot more calories from their food than would otherwise be possible. Research over the past few years, however, has implicated it in diseases from atherosclerosis to asthma to autism.}}
  • # In such a way as to cover.
  • # From one physical position to another via an obstacle that must be traversed vertically, first upwards and then downwards.
  • By comparison.
  • # More than; to a greater degree.
  • # Beyond; past; exceeding; too much or too far.
  • # (label) As compared to.
  • (label) Divided by.
  • Finished with; done with; from one state to another via a hindrance that must be solved or defeated; or via a third state that represents a significant difference from the first two.
  • While]] using, (especially) while [[consume, consuming.
  • * 1990 , (Seymour Chatman), Coming to Terms , , ISBN 0801497361, page 100[http://books.google.com/books?id=loD1JXOtmTYC&pg=PA100&dq=relax]:
  • Six diners in business clothes—five attractive young women and a balding middle-aged man—relax over cigarettes.
  • * 1998 , Marian Swerdlow, Underground Woman , , ISBN 1566396107, page 88 [http://books.google.com/books?id=jIK3DGkOwYkC&pg=PA88&dq=croissants]:
  • Sunday had been my favorite day at Woodlawn. A long W.A.A. [="work as assigned" period], having coffee and croissants with Mark over the Sunday Times .
  • * 2009 , Sara Pennypacker, The Great Egyptian Grave Robbery , , ISBN 9780545207867, page 79:
  • Over meatloaf and mashed potatoes (being careful not to talk with his mouth full), Stanley told about his adventure.
  • Concerning or regarding.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-10, volume=408, issue=8848, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Can China clean up fast enough? , passage=It has jailed environmental activists and is planning to limit the power of judicial oversight by handing a state-approved body a monopoly over bringing environmental lawsuits.}}
  • Above, implying superiority after a contest; in spite of; notwithstanding.
  • Usage notes

    When used in the context of "from one location to another", over'' implies that the two places are at approximately the same height or the height difference is not relevant. For example, if two offices are on the same floor of a building, an office worker might say ''I'll bring that over''' for you'', while if the offices were on different floors, the sentence would likely be ''I'll bring that up [down] for you.'' However, distances are not constrained, e.g. ''He came '''over''' from England last year and now lives in Los Angeles'' or ''I moved the stapler '''over to the other side of my desk.

    Interjection

    (en interjection)
  • In radio communications: end of sentence, ready to receive reply.
  • How do you receive? Over !

    References

    * Andrea Tyler and Vyvyan Evans, "The semantic network for over''", in ''The Semantics of English Prepositions: Spatial Scenes, Embodied Meaning and Cognition , Cambridge University Press, 2003, 0-521-81430 8

    Statistics

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