cir
cum
vent
Third Person
circumvents
Present Participle
circumventing
Past Tense
circumvented
Past Participle
circumvented
1
to evade an obligation, question, or problem by means of excuses or dishonesty
transitive
- 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.
- Employees circumvented performance reviews by calling in sick on evaluation days.
- Some individuals try to circumvent taxes by using loopholes in the system.
- The politician attempted to circumvent the difficult question by changing the topic.
2
to find a way around something, especially through cleverness or strategy
transitive
- 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.
- The athlete circumvented the opponent's defense with a quick maneuver.
- Companies often try to circumvent taxes by using offshore accounts.
- He found a way to circumvent the strict rules and still attend the event.
3
to surround someone or something so as to prevent escape or effective opposition
transitive
- 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.
- The pirates surrounded the ship to circumvent any attempt at fleeing.
- The government set up additional checkpoints to circumvent the smuggling operation.