Meaning & use
girdled
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“girdled” is a form of “girdle”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
adjectiveafter a verbliterary
Surrounded or encircled by something, like a belt around the waist.
Grammar: Often follows a noun or is followed by by or with: a hill girdled by trees.
Patterns
- girdled by something
- girdled with something
The old town was girdled by a thick stone wall.
A lake girdled with pine forest lay below the cabin.
The island, girdled by reefs, was hard to reach by boat.
verbtransitiveliterary
Past tense and past participle of girdle: to surround or tie something in a ring, or to fasten with a belt.
Grammar: Takes an object: a wall girdled the city.
Patterns
- girdle something with something
Ancient walls girdled the harbor city for centuries.
He girdled his tunic with a leather strap before leaving.
Ropes girdled the barrel to hold the planks together.
Common combinations
- girdled by walls
- The village was girdled by walls against raiders.
- girdled with trees
- The pond was girdled with willow trees.
- girdled by mountains
- The valley lies girdled by mountains on all sides.
- girdled by a belt of
- The planet is girdled by a belt of dust.
Synonyms and how they differ
- encircled
- Encircled is the plain, everyday choice, while girdled adds a poetic feel of a belt tightly around something.
- ringed
- Ringed stresses the circular shape and is more neutral than girdled.
- surrounded
- Surrounded is the broadest word and does not require a ring-shaped boundary.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: girdled or girded?
girdled vs girded
Girded means prepared or strengthened, as in 'girded for battle'; girdled means encircled.
Practice
The medieval city was ______ by a high stone wall.
Choose one answer.
Girdled means surrounded like a belt. Gilded means covered in gold, and 'girded up' is about preparing oneself rather than a wall around a city.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “girdled”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.