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to circumvent
01
to evade an obligation, question, or problem by means of excuses or dishonesty
Transitive: to circumvent an obligation or problem
Examples
Many companies circumvent their environmental responsibilities by outsourcing to suppliers in other countries.
Students often try to circumvent answering difficult exam questions by providing vague responses.
02
to find a way around something, especially through cleverness or strategy
Transitive: to circumvent an obstacle
Examples
The hacker tried to circumvent the security system but was caught by the IT department.
She managed to circumvent the traffic by taking a back road.
03
to surround someone or something so as to prevent escape or effective opposition
Transitive: to circumvent sb/sth
Examples
Soldiers circumvented enemy positions on the hill by scaling the cliffs above under cover of night and rolling grenades down in the morning.
The police were able to circumvent the suspect by cordoning off the entire block, cutting off all possible escape routes.
Lexical Tree
circumvention
circumvent
