What does encirclement mean?

Definitions for encirclement
en·cir·clement

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word encirclement.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. blockade, encirclementnoun

    a war measure that isolates some area of importance to the enemy

Wiktionary

  1. encirclementnoun

    The act of encircling or the state of being encircled

  2. encirclementnoun

    The isolation of a target by the formation of a blockade around it

Wikipedia

  1. Encirclement

    Encirclement is a military term for the situation when a force or target is isolated and surrounded by enemy forces. The situation is highly dangerous for the encircled force. At the strategic level, it cannot receive supplies or reinforcements, and on the tactical level, the units in the force can be subject to an attack from several sides. Lastly, since the force cannot retreat, unless it is relieved or can break out, it must fight to the death or surrender. A special kind of encirclement is the siege. In that case, the encircled forces are enveloped in a fortified position in which long-lasting supplies and strong defences are in place, allowing them to withstand attacks. Sieges have taken place in almost all eras of warfare.

ChatGPT

  1. encirclement

    Encirclement is a military strategy, often used in warfare, which involves surrounding an enemy force completely in order to cut off its communications, supplies, and escape routes, making its defeat more likely. This tactic aims to isolate the enemy from exterior help or reinforcements. In general context, it can also refer to the condition of being surrounded by something, such as an environment, situation, or circumstances.

Wikidata

  1. Encirclement

    Encirclement is a military term for the situation when a force or target is isolated and surrounded by enemy forces. This situation is highly dangerous for the encircled force: at the strategic level, because it cannot receive supplies or reinforcements, and on the tactical level, because the units in the force can be subject to an attack from several sides. Lastly, since the force cannot retreat, unless it is relieved or can break out, it must either fight to the death or surrender. Encirclement has been used throughout the centuries by military leaders, including generals such as Alexander the Great, Khalid bin Waleed, Hannibal, Sun Tzu, Shaka Zulu, Wallenstein, Napoleon, Moltke, Heinz Guderian, von Rundstedt, von Manstein, Zhukov, and Patton. Sun Tzu suggests that an army should not be completely encircled, but should be given some room for escape, in order to prevent that 'encircled' army's men lifting their morale and fighting till the death –- a better situation would be them considering the possibility of a retreat. Examples of this might be the battles of Dunkirk, in 1940, and the Falaise Gap in 1944. The main form of encircling, the "double pincer," is executed by attacks on the flanks of a battle, where the mobile forces of the era, such as light infantry, cavalry, tanks, or APCs attempt to force a breakthrough to utilize their speed to join behind the back of the enemy force, and complete the "ring", while the main enemy force is stalled by probing attacks. The encirclement of the German Sixth Army in the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942 is a typical example of this.

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of encirclement in Chaldean Numerology is: 9

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of encirclement in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4

Examples of encirclement in a Sentence

  1. Josef Stalin:

    We shall not make this public, the capitalist encirclement continues.

  2. Stephen Townsend:

    We don’t have a complete encirclement of Mosul.

  3. Sam Cranny-Evans:

    The Southern Military District -- in Donetsk, Luhansk, Mariupol, Berdyansk, Melitopol -- these are the best troops in the Russian army. And they always work. They're designed to fight NATO, so the forces that were committed to the Kyiv encirclement suggests that it was a goal that either Russia thought would be easily achieved, or they overestimated the capabilities of those forces. So that leads, in part, to the conclusion that an encirclement of the Ukrainian troops in the JFO is part of the goal that Russia is looking to achieve. And the movements of Russian forces do seem to suggest that that is the case.

  4. Genevieve Casagrande:

    They are setting conditions for the full encirclement of the city.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

encirclement#100000#174444#333333

Translations for encirclement

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

  • piiritys, motitus, saarto, ympyröintiFinnish
  • окружениеRussian

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"encirclement." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 Nov. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/encirclement>.

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