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When something abuts something else, it is next to it or forms a border with it.
If you describe something as ambiguous, you mean that it is unclear or confusing because it can be understood in multiple ways.
Contiguous things are in contact with or near each other; contiguous events happen one right after the other without a break.
A cynosure is an object that serves as the center of attention.
If you delineate something, such as an idea or situation or border, you describe it in great detail.
Demarcation is the process of setting boundaries or limits; it is also a line that provides a distinct separation between two things.
When something encompasses something else, it includes all aspects of it or completely surrounds it.
To gerrymander a voting district is to change its physical boundaries in order to include more people who vote in a particular way.
The juxtaposition of two objects is the act of positioning them side by side so that the differences between them are more readily visible.
The propinquity of a thing is its nearness in location, relationship, or similarity to another thing.
When people or animals are quarantined, they are put in isolation so that they will not spread disease.
Noun
periphery
puh-RIF-uh-ree
Context
Let’s put all the bookshelves on the periphery or edges of the room and the couches in the center. That way, we can walk along the periphery or boundary of the room to browse for something to read. That way people standing at the periphery or surrounding outer space discussing what they are looking for will not disturb those who are reading quietly in the center.
Quiz:Try again!
If you are at the periphery of a large forest, where are you?
Computer PeripheralsPeripherals are the things that sit in the periphery of your computer.
Examples
Dozens of other fans came by and hung at the periphery of the group, wondering if they would be asked in, and then they drifted away when it became obvious that Bird was paying them no mind.
—
Sports Illustrated
A good friend of Dionne Warwick, Isley claims that he was on the periphery of numerous sessions with Bacharach, lyricist Hal David and their best-known interpreter.
—
Rolling Stone
During these types of operations, a surgeon refers to the images displayed on computer monitors, but the monitors are typically placed on the periphery of the operating theater, away from the work at hand, or above the surgeon’s head.
—
Wired
The euro fell to a new low against the Swiss franc Wednesday after the latest round of nerve-wracking developments in the region’s laboring economic periphery.
—
CNN
A periphery of a building is the “state or condition of carrying around” that building. One’s peripheral vision describes the outer reaches of one’s eyesight, that is, what we see around the edges of our sight that is not our central gaze.
Word Theater
Dexter They exist on the periphery.
The panel shows a small video clip of either the word in actual use or a scene that represents the meaning of a word. This not only breaks up the monotony of studying words but also provides another avenue to strengthen word meaning. Enjoy!
Word Constellation
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Related Words
abut ·
contiguous* ·
delineate ·
demarcation+ ·
encompass ·
gerrymander ·
juxtaposition* ·
propinquity* ·
quarantine* ·
ambiguous* ·
cynosure+ ·
Similar sense
Opposite sense
Word Variants
peripheral
adj
→
outer, external
The section lists important variants and alternate definitions of the headword. Knowing variants will often help you both remember and understand the word. Not all variants are listed - only the ones we think that are important for you to know.