encirclement
Tactical complete surrounding
Encirclement is the act or result of surrounding something completely, forming a ring or barrier around it.
The term appears most often in military contexts, where encirclement describes a tactical maneuver to trap enemy forces by cutting off their routes of escape or resupply.
The encirclement of the city lasted three months before supplies ran out.
Beyond warfare, encirclement can describe any situation where something is hemmed in or closed off from all sides.
At the sides of
- pincer movementTwo-pronged tactical encirclement
- envelopmentAct of surrounding completely
- outflankingAttacking from the side
- cauldronLarge metal cooking pot
pocket · annihilation · double envelopment · trapped · cutoff · salient · bulge · breakthrough
Sealing off a place
- besiegeSurround to force surrender
- surroundEnclose on every side
- investmentDeploying capital for returns
- fortificationStrengthening defenses or nutrients
garrison · trenches · artillery · assault · starvation · attrition · capitulation · breach
Enclose on every side
- ringClosed curve shape
- encloseShut in on all sides
- encompassInclude within bounds
- girdleBody-shaping undergarment
belt · loop · perimeter · boundary · periphery · orbit · halo · corona
Official prohibition on trade
- sanctionsPunitive international restrictions
- blockadeSealing off a place
- isolationComplete separation from others
- containmentPreventing hostile expansion
ostracism · exclusion · boycott · cutoff · stranglehold · pressure · coercion · diplomatic isolation
flanking
At the sides of
- pincer movementTwo-pronged tactical encirclement
- envelopmentAct of surrounding completely
- outflankingAttacking from the side
cauldron · pocket · annihilation · double envelopment · trapped · cutoff · salient · bulge · breakthrough · breakout
blockade
Sealing off a place
- besiegeSurround to force surrender
- surroundEnclose on every side
- investmentDeploying capital for returns
fortification · garrison · trenches · artillery · assault · starvation · attrition · capitulation · breach · rampart
surround
Enclose on every side
girdle · belt · loop · perimeter · boundary · periphery · orbit · halo · corona · border
embargo
Official prohibition on trade
- sanctionsPunitive international restrictions
- blockadeSealing off a place
- isolationComplete separation from others
containment · ostracism · exclusion · boycott · cutoff · stranglehold · pressure · coercion · diplomatic isolation · economic warfare
containment
Preventing hostile expansion
- entrapmentDefense against induced criminality
- imprisonmentLegal detention in jail
- captivityState of being confined
enclosure · corral · pen · cage · fence · barrier · barricade · hemmed in · boxed in · walled in
- strategystrategy, grand strategy, tactics, tactic, tactical
- game tacticsstrategy, tactics, positioning, decision making, counterplay
- maneuversmaneuver, feint, sidestep, dodge, evasion
- stealthsneak, ninja, creep, spy, skulk
- strategiesambush, flanking, feint, diversion, counterattack
- tacticsmaneuver, counter-attack, gambit, ambush, counterstrike
encirclementfrontal assault
Attack from the front
direct attack · breakthrough · penetration · charge · blitzkrieg
encirclementbreakout
Sudden escape from restraint
escape · relief · liberation · extrication · support
encirclementdispersal
Spreading in many directions
scattering · release · opening · spreading out · expansion