Literary notes about Circumvent (AI summary)
In literature, "circumvent" is employed to convey the act of skillfully bypassing obstacles, whether they be physical barriers or abstract hindrances. Authors depict characters maneuvering around tangible impediments, such as dense thickets or locked doors ([1], [2]), while also using the term to illustrate evasion of rules, fate, or adversaries’ schemes ([3], [4], [5]). At times the word takes on a metaphorical nuance, highlighting cunning strategies or subterfuge in personal and political contexts where individuals or forces seek to outwit formidable challenges or moral boundaries ([6], [7], [8]). This versatility enriches the narrative by suggesting not only the physical act of going around a barrier but also a calculated attempt to sidestep direct confrontation or inevitable outcomes.
- The going that morning proved fairly good, the chief obstacle being huge clumps of a coarse, rank grass, which we had to circumvent.
— from Raiders of the SarhadBeing an Account of the Campaign of Arms and Bluff Against the Brigands of the Persian-Baluchi Border during the Great War by R. E. H. (Reginald Edward Harry) Dyer - To reach it you have to circumvent rivers and climb up and down steep braes.
— from The Scott Country by John Geddie - There is no way to circumvent the laws of God or the laws of man on this island, my friends.
— from West Wind Drift by George Barr McCutcheon - Only by our own efforts and the exercise of our wits may we hope to circumvent his intentions and retain our freedom and our property."
— from The Flying Girl and Her Chum by L. Frank (Lyman Frank) Baum - All the resources of political skill were resorted to to circumvent his rival.
— from The Guardsman by Homer Greene - They hunt in large packs, and after using every stratagem to circumvent their prey, attack it with remarkable ferocity.
— from The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction
Volume 20, No. 577, July 7, 1827 by Various - The effect is to circumvent destiny by substituting a mock calamity for a real one.
— from The Golden Bough: A Study of Magic and Religion by James George Frazer - They had done their best to circumvent Orange, in all ways and at all times.
— from The Rise of the Dutch Republic — Complete (1555-84) by John Lothrop Motley