Definition of "circumambulate" [cir•cum•am•bu•late]

• To walk around (something), especially as part of a ritual: "Circumambulate the city of a dreamy Sabbath afternoon” ( Herman Melville). (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.

• "During the Hajj, Muslims uniformly circumambulate around the Holy Kaaba in what is known as 'Tawaaf', irrespective of gender, nationality or sect."
• "In the evening, hundreds of pilgrims circumambulate the stupa or meditate quietly in its shadows."
• "Indeed, saying this, I recall one elderly Khampa, a former bodyguard who used to come each day to circumambulate my residence in Dharamsala (a popular devotion)."