surroundings

noun

1. (form-of, plural)plural of surrounding
2. (plural, plural-only)The area surrounding someone or something, together with the objects and circumstances in the vicinity; the environment or ambiance.

   “His tall, gaunt, stringy figure is insensible to fatigue, and his dry, half-sarcastic, and often wholly unsympathetic manner is uninfluenced by any change in his surroundings.”

   “We like the way they live, in their penthouselike surroundings filled with fake ferns and goldfish.”

   “The e-boutique has to engage them in an elevated way and they have to be stimulated by the virtual surroundings.”

   “Although operational environments profoundly differ, both kinds of autonomous vehicles, groundcraft and aircraft, will still rely on conceptually the same sorts of sensors — cameras, radar and lidar — to perceive surroundings in real time.”

3. (plural, plural-only)All parts of the universe that are not within the thermodynamic system of interest.