close around

close (in) around (someone or something)

To physically surround or encircle someone or something, often very closely and encroachingly. As the opposing troops closed in around us, I knew we would never win the battle. I need to get out of this little cabin—I feel like the walls are closing around me.
See also: around, close
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

close (in) around someone or something

to move to surround someone or something. The police closed in around the thieves. We closed in around the enemy camp.
See also: around, close
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • close (in) around (someone or something)
  • close in
  • close in on (someone or something)
  • wreathe around
  • wreathe around (something)
  • wreathe in
  • wreathe
  • wreathe (someone or something) in (something)
  • wreathe (someone or something) with (something)
  • surround
References in periodicals archive
Police believe offenders also tried to break into a house in Packwood Close around the same time but failed.
Benchmark crude oil futures fell to close around $72 a barrel on Wednesday in New York on larger-than-expected inventories of both crude oil and gasoline announced by the U.S.
A polyester carpet cover is hung inside the cavity on pins and clamps close around it.
The transaction is expected to close around mid-year and is subject to certain conditions and regulatory approvals.
Unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies, the deal is expected to close around the end of 2004.
Here in the New York metropolitan area, the families of the 9/11 victims are close around us: A house for sale in the neighborhood, many babies born to lost fathers and some moms that have been unable to cope, given the magnitude of their loss.
Of the more than 138,000 pay phones in Britain, BT is monitoring 30,000 which it has said are unprofitable and will close around 12,000 this year.
Positioning movements include yawl (left and right rotation of the working arm), pitch (tilts gripper fingers up and down), roll (continuous rotation of the gripper fingers) and the gripper fingers themselves, which open and close around castings.
"The fingers close around the active site of the enzyme, and that allows important residues to catalyze the incorporation of a nucleotide.
The trees stood close around us, for in those days suburbia had not vanquished nature with concrete acres, housing sprawl, shopping malls, parking lots.
He takes a sweet and clapboards close around Them once again--they somewhat breath-bound Still from when they wandered Milano together For thirty seconds, and were lovers.
In human babies, this shows up when an object is placed in a newborn's hand and the fingers will close around it and they will grasp it.
The Italian 2-year yield briefly probed 1.45% earlier, before pulling back to the 1.32% area from a close around 1.05% yesterday.
HIGH-STREET giant Marks & Spencer has said it will close around 60 clothing and home stores as it focuses on food, and warned of more than 2,100 job losses under plans to axe 53 overseas shops.
The company - who own the Plumb and Drain Center chains - yesterday announced plans to close around 80 branches and one distribution depot under a "turnaround and repositioning strategy".