Definition of "circumvent" []

• To surround (an enemy, for example); enclose or entrap. (verb-transitive)
• To go around; bypass: circumvented the city. (verb-transitive)
• To avoid or get around by artful maneuvering: She planned a way to circumvent all the bureaucratic red tape. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "And they want to kind of circumvent the will of our grassroots delegates that nominated Congressman Castle to be our endorsed candidate."
• "This latest gambit, he argued, was simply an attempt to "circumvent" the law."
• "A fine argument if there actually is a legal immigration procedure for many of those who 'circumvent' it; Which there isn't."