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circle
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
circle
I.noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a pool/circle of light (=an area of light)
▪ They stood in the pool of light cast by the streetlamp.
Antarctic Circle
charmed circle
▪ politicians outside the charmed circle
closed circle
▪ The police have a closed circle of suspects.
crop circle
dress circle
family circle
round in circles
▪ a shoal of tiny fish swimming round in circles
sb’s circle of friends (=all the friends sb has)
▪ Her small circle of friends used to play cards together.
stone circle
traffic circle
turning circle
vicious circle
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
academic
▪ He also expressed his disappointment at the lack of support from his colleagues in academic circles.
▪ War and the military had become unpopular in academic and intellectual circles.
▪ We have described two uses of the survey method which originated outside academic circles.
▪ The burden of the essay will be merely to indicate how voluntarism can succeed in academic circles.
▪ There is much of it already in academic circles and also in business centers.
▪ Criticism and debate are to be welcomed, however, and should not be confined to academic circles.
close
▪ Anybody outside his close immediate circle was intrigued by the Guinness enigma.
▪ And most of them begin at home, with ourselves and our closest circle of friends.
concentric
▪ The landowners lived centrally, and around them, in concentric circles as it were, lived the working people.
▪ Instead, there was a series of concentric circles, surrounding a small black disk.
▪ This is on concentric, double circle plan, with central dome and sloping outer roofs.
▪ The targets are black men with superimposed concentric circles declining to a solid, black bullseye.
▪ The words run along each concentric circle and not across circles.
▪ Julian's Bower, at Alkborough, Lincolnshire, is altogether more elaborate, having twelve concentric circles.
▪ The strata are now much folded and appear on the surface as a series of concentric circles.
▪ The model constructed by Nairn resembles a series of concentric circles.
dark
▪ After moisturising, disguise thread veins, blemishes and dark circles under the eyes with a good concealer.
▪ These in turn merge gradually into dark circles and bright outer rings with no evidence of impact cratering.
▪ A lookout watched for the tell-tale dark circle of a shoal of sardines.
▪ And two little beady eyes with dark blue circles under them whether I sleep enough or not.
▪ His teeth were gritted together and he had dark circles under his eyes.
▪ Haven't you seen the dark circles under her eyes?
▪ There at a table was a clearly dejected, drooping Auguste, with large dark circles under his eyes.
full
▪ Cross the Bahnhof bridge, and you will have come full circle back to the starting point.
▪ Today, society has evolved and the wheel has come full circle.
▪ We had come back like the full circle of our route, intact.
▪ Then the car swung all the way back, full circle, the lanes of the freeway streaking under me.
▪ The neo-colonial wheel has almost come full circle.
▪ A manufacturer of sun care products has just issued a report showing that the view on tanning has come full circle.
▪ Thus the wheel had turned full circle.
inner
▪ The intrigue, if one existed, was worthy of the inner circle of the Imperial court on far distant Knossos.
▪ Edna McGurk came from an insular inner circle of elite Philadelphia society.
▪ He is not one of the inner circle, and does not know where his orders came from.
▪ But the vortex fills as he nears its inner circle.
▪ The inner circle represents activities that are accepted as sport in all countries and fulfil all of Rodgers' criteria.
▪ Hubbell, part of the Clintons' inner circle, is intimately familiar with their financial affairs.
▪ But in Johnson's inner circle of advisers, there were fewer defections.
▪ Why would a member of his inner circle record such an event?
large
▪ There are no ground rules for knowing how to handle these semi-permanent relationships in the context of the larger family circle.
▪ But even if we do accept the larger stone circles as computers, this does not really explain why people made them.
▪ As you bend and straighten your legs, make a large circle with your arms.
▪ They flew side by side, making large, irregular circles.
▪ Successively larger circles indicate amplitudes of 30°, 40° and 50°.
▪ A scholar or a particular work by a scholar may locate him / her in larger circles of shared collective life.
▪ Brush the whole cake with apricot glaze, then roll out the remaining marzipan to a large circle to cover.
▪ Curd took the group, seated in a large circle, through the various steps of coping with grief.
literary
▪ Eleanor's husband had secured his first lectureship, and her first novel had been acclaimed in literary circles.
▪ By 1920 she had proved herself by earning a living in a difficult world, and by winning recognition in literary circles.
▪ There are several appreciative remarks about him by members of the literary and artistic circle.
▪ Bill Raeper was well known in literary circles in Oxford.
little
▪ He could see Chris in the little circle surrounding Finnegan's ball.
▪ Harder, harder, the fingers moved slowly around toward her windpipe, making little circles on the way.
▪ Bobbie occupied with Marie's little circle would have less time and energy for stalking David Chester with the Fieldfare family pistol.
▪ Weld helped her find little circles of women on whom to practice public speaking; before long, men started attending.
▪ So it was transparent, with these little black circles in it that seemed to jump backwards and forwards at you.
▪ In 1939 they were still politically unknown outside their own little circle.
magic
▪ Perhaps deities were transported in ships to describe a magic circle of divine protection round the whole island.
▪ Occultists also claim to cast out demons affecting or possessing one of their number, and even friends outside their magic circles.
political
▪ There are various species of Sizewell men - no, in modern political circles, Sizewell people.
▪ The hot topic in political circles here is who might become Sen.
▪ Yet he had somehow established a reputation in political circles as something out of the ordinary.
▪ For the most part these newspapers were owned by persons high in political circles or were subsidized by special interest groups.
▪ After the Gulf War he was promoted rapidly and began to mix more in political circles.
▪ But hardly anyone in political circles, including Republican loyalist redoubts on Capitol Hill, believes that right now.
▪ For now, such notions of bigness play well in political circles but thankfully not in all banking ones.
▪ On the basis of available facts, the Mandelas' cult following in international political circles seems inexplicable.
small
▪ The office of prime minister is a lonely and uniquely stressful one, and most develop their own small circle of confidants.
▪ For much of its short history, the computer world was inhabited by a small circle of researchers, students and hobbyists.
▪ A bonfire blazed inside a small circle of stones.
▪ Next, a smaller circle, the epicycle, was drawn with its center on the circumference on the deferent.
▪ The drawbacks of this relationship are its stolid dullness and its tendency to focus power in a small circle of people.
▪ It was a small closed circle that I think will open even wider now.
▪ He was instantly recognizable in the small but influential circle he kept.
▪ Its industries' products remained luxuries, reserved for a small circle of town-dwellers, or for export.
social
▪ Depending upon the social circles in which the young adult moves there will be more or less pressure towards getting married.
▪ After this she removed herself from her social circle, and avoided the company of any but a very few friends.
▪ She's quite a popular figure in social circles.
▪ Alfred wanted Amy to marry some one in their own social circle, as their eldest, William, had done.
▪ It did not imply membership of a social circle but an attitude of mind.
▪ The civilities of politeness and social etiquette may ensure that the locals' resentment is voiced only in their own social circle.
▪ Similarly, the unemployed found the focus of their social circle also becoming centred on heroin.
▪ They may have lost touch with their friends and have to start again to build up a new social circle.
turning
▪ He took Susan Hart's directions and found the no-through road and the turning circle and the track.
▪ The turning circles remain unchanged, but the steering wheel only requires 3.4 turns from lock-to-lock.
▪ His car was in the turning circle.
vicious
▪ This has produced a nastily vicious circle.
▪ I had to destroy, once and for all, the vicious circle of poverty and economic stagnation.
▪ The result, in short, was a vicious circle.
▪ And if the auction houses aren't doing well ... it's a vicious circle.
▪ Marital dissatisfaction can lead to adultery which, in turn, exacerbates dissatisfaction in a vicious circle.
▪ Think of the vicious circle of hyperventilation.
▪ How can this vicious circle be broken?
▪ We would get back into a vicious circle.
wide
▪ Fox was a nice man, much liked among a wide circle of his fellow-clergy.
▪ They flew in wide, eccentric circles and I realized that the birds were drunk.
▪ His passing leaves a sore gap in his family circle and in his wider circle of friends and acquaintances.
▪ A dozen boats idled in a wide circle around the flames.
▪ He has heard, perhaps from the Ambassador, that I have a wide circle of friends and acquaintances over there.
▪ The assumptions underlying the deconstructionist view of reality linger on in surprisingly wide circles of influence in the 1990s.
▪ Through contracts and franchises handed out to associates, a wider circle of loyalists has made a fortune.
▪ Charles Olson relied on his wide circle of literary friends when he recruited for Black Mountain.
■ NOUN
court
▪ Today Oxfordshire's Tim Henman justified the tributes being paid to him in court circles!
▪ By 1633 he was already moving in court circles.
stone
▪ I imagined solemn covens chanting, straggling torchlight processions winding up to mountain tops, stone circles, sacred trees and springs.
▪ It is true we no longer live in the cultures that produced the great temples or stone circles or earthworks.
▪ But even if we do accept the larger stone circles as computers, this does not really explain why people made them.
▪ Under sheltering trees stand three cairns and stone circles, worn yet awesomely dignified after more than 5,000 years.
▪ In the Neolithic, or New Stone Age, we find the beginning of temples, stone circles, and monumental earthworks.
▪ This Land of Our Fathers comes complete with Celtic stone circle, ancient swamps and iron-age huts.
▪ In the west of Ireland a small roadside shrine to the Virgin Mary stands almost alongside an equally modest stone circle.
■ VERB
draw
▪ With points 0, 2, 4 etc, as centres draw quadrants of circles with radius 9.
▪ I drew a circle with my finger on the concrete rim of the fountain.
▪ They have drawn out the magical circle simply to trap the adventurers, when they saw them approaching the area.
▪ He put the page on the desk and drew a circle on it.
▪ Picabia was drawn into the circle, probably by Apollinaire with whom he had recently become friendly.
▪ Peter drew a circle on the notepad with his pen then divided the circle into eight sections.
▪ The toe of his right sandal slowly drew a circle.
▪ Neurologists like to draw a circle and ask the patient to fill in a clock face.
form
▪ The herd solves this problem by forming a defensive circle when marauding wolves attack.
▪ They form a circle and keep tossing, industriously, carefully.
▪ Those within the existing Community who hesitate over future commitments would form the next circle.
▪ Hilda returned to her seat next to Omite, while the other women seemed to form a circle that excluded her.
▪ They all formed a loose circle around the stretcher.
▪ One starts playing a harmonica, the others form a circle.
▪ It contains five plain gold rings, interlinked to form a circle.
▪ Still others formed circles of worshippers in their communities to celebrate the seasons and the special moments of their lives.
move
▪ He moved in exalted circles - and was ambitious for greater things.
▪ But even for those who move freely in this circle of literary classics, Characters still has some problems.
▪ Then he slowly began moving in a circle until he was directly behind his father.
▪ Tanya insists on moving in many circles and, above all, on thinking for herself.
▪ It was a pleasing thought, that I might soon be moving in more exalted circles.
▪ Use the spatula to move half the circles to a cookie sheet.
▪ As if they would move in the same circles.
▪ Once the first bid has been made, the game moves clockwise in the circle.
run
▪ Down on the beach Tonton now ran in a crazy circle, his tail tucked between his legs.
▪ Mobutu would run circles around us.
▪ First, I needed to know whether the axis running through the circle centres continued to the church at Bishops Cannings.
▪ They were running in a circle, essentially, going nowhere.
▪ They had run circles round me.
▪ I had a tendency to run around in circles getting more and more worked up.
▪ The words run along each concentric circle and not across circles.
▪ He ran great loopy circles, barking with delight, while Master dodged and dived, trying to catch him.
sit
▪ Blind Man's Buff Everyone sits in a circle with one person sitting blindfolded in the middle.
▪ I sat in a circle of fire for one whole night as my body became scorched with blisters.
▪ In a dusty room in the Pearce Institute the children sat round in a circle.
▪ They sit in a circle surrounded by family and friends.
▪ They then sit in a circle and hold their bags unopened.
▪ As they do every morning, the girls sit in a circle in the middle of the floor, stretching and talking.
▪ Description of the game Children all sit in a circle.
▪ We sit in a circle in anxious anticipation.
square
▪ The attraction of the concept was that it allowed him to square a number of circles at once.
▪ This squaring of the circle is the hardest of their tasks.
▪ There is no sureness of touch, no deft ability to square circles as and when required.
▪ This is as difficult as trying to square a circle.
▪ Where are the leaders who can square this vicious circle?
▪ The only way of squaring the circle to Moscow's satisfaction would be to send in troops.
▪ On his last point, Labour has manifestly failed to square the circle.
▪ Britain, ever the Atlanticist, tried to square the circle, and usually failed.
stand
▪ They were both good dancers and gradually the other couples drifted off the floor and stood in a circle watching them.
▪ Each fills her bucket and comes to stand in a circle around me.
▪ Next, long white streamers tied into an intricate pattern in the centre were handed to various women standing in the circle.
▪ Jody stands outside the circle, watching and listening.
▪ BThe children begin by standing in a circle, holding hands.
▪ The mourners stood in a circle on the sand, three hundred yards down from the parking lot.
▪ The embarrassed nomes stood around in a circle.
▪ Brownies stand in a circle facing inwards with their legs apart.
turn
▪ Now his fortunes are poised to turn full circle again.
▪ Now the pattern has turned full circle.
▪ She turned in a complete circle.
▪ The wheel has turned full circle in the past 25 years.
▪ Sadly events have turned full circle and those who defended the university then must do so again.
▪ Thus the wheel had turned full circle.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
come/go/turn full circle
▪ A manufacturer of sun care products has just issued a report showing that the view on tanning has come full circle.
▪ Now his fortunes are poised to turn full circle again.
▪ Now the pattern has turned full circle.
▪ Only a classic endures, and sooner or later the fashion comes full circle.
▪ The neo-colonial wheel has almost come full circle.
▪ The wheel has turned full circle in the past 25 years.
▪ Thus the research has come full circle.
▪ Today, society has evolved and the wheel has come full circle.
describe a circle/an arc etc
▪ Chen saw the knife describe an arc through the air and felt himself flinch.
in polite society/circles/company
▪ You can't use words like that in polite company.
▪ Her passion for natural history became increasingly fashionable in polite society during the 17605.
▪ In the good old days of rampant dualism, the mind was rarely mentioned in polite society.
▪ It was not the sort of thing you did in polite company.
▪ It was obvious from the scenes that such behavior did not belong in polite society.
▪ Trevor Proby is another, of course, but his notables should not be discussed in polite company.
▪ With sad paradox, Mr Punch himself became the man in the Bateman cartoon, unwelcome in polite company.
inner circle
▪ But the vortex fills as he nears its inner circle.
▪ He is not one of the inner circle, and does not know where his orders came from.
▪ His decision was upheld by nearly every senior official in his inner circle.
▪ Hubbell, part of the Clintons' inner circle, is intimately familiar with their financial affairs.
▪ In fact, several guidebooks were conspiracies to conceal this information, and repel invaders from outside the initiated inner circle.
▪ Morris's ideas still provoke tension in the Clinton White House, even if Morris is absent from the inner circle.
▪ The inner circle represents activities that are accepted as sport in all countries and fulfil all of Rodgers' criteria.
▪ The intrigue, if one existed, was worthy of the inner circle of the Imperial court on far distant Knossos.
magic circle
▪ Occultists also claim to cast out demons affecting or possessing one of their number, and even friends outside their magic circles.
▪ Perhaps deities were transported in ships to describe a magic circle of divine protection round the whole island.
move in ... circles/society/world
▪ ACCORDING to acquaintances who move in the twilight world of Private Eye, the satirical magazine is hoping for a Conservative victory.
▪ As if they would move in the same circles.
▪ He moved in exalted circles - and was ambitious for greater things.
▪ I thought I could move in the world of all possible lights, and breathe, breathe, breathe.
▪ In the 1980s there has been a general move in museum education circles towards active learning experiences on site.
▪ It was a pleasing thought, that I might soon be moving in more exalted circles.
▪ Tanya insists on moving in many circles and, above all, on thinking for herself.
▪ We move in the same circles.
square the circle
▪ Britain, ever the Atlanticist, tried to square the circle, and usually failed.
▪ On his last point, Labour has manifestly failed to square the circle.
▪ The only way of squaring the circle to Moscow's satisfaction would be to send in troops.
the Antarctic Circle
the Arctic Circle
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ a circle of chairs
▪ By 1920 she had written two novels, and had succeeded in winning recognition in literary circles.
▪ Cut the dough into several small circles.
▪ Draw a circle around the right answer.
▪ I want you to form two circles, one inside the other. Boys on the outside, girls on the inside.
▪ It was the 1960s, and the military had become unpopular among academic and intellectual circles.
▪ The circle of stones at Stonehenge is thought to have originally been a temple.
▪ The flashlight threw a dim circle of light onto the wall.
▪ The teacher drew a circle on the blackboard.
▪ This circle is 4 inches in diameter.
▪ We all stood in a circle and tossed the ball to each other.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Calling circles give discounts when you call other customers of the same long-distance carrier you have.
▪ Hippie dips, or hot pots, are circles of rocks built around natural hot springs.
▪ Over to your right in the distance, half-hidden by a fold of land, is a broken circle of stone monoliths.
▪ The circles were there, perfectly.
▪ The drawbacks of this relationship are its stolid dullness and its tendency to focus power in a small circle of people.
▪ They had big half circles of pure white skin below.
▪ We hold on to one another, an unsteady circle, and leave the room together.
▪ Without a plan you will end up going in circles and wasting your life away.
II.verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
round
▪ We had our little mock boxing-matches, in my study, circling round the table as if it were a ring.
▪ He swept down the gorge, circled round, and made a second pass at the Falls to lose altitude.
▪ The aeroplane - quite a small one - was circling round far overhead.
▪ Its engine is missing badly and it's circling round as if looking for a landing-place.
▪ Those that are wounded and stunned will be consumed by the swordfish at leisure, circling round any that start to sink.
▪ Thenceforth, it seems that everything is in ecstatic motion, and the church itself is circling round.
▪ However, we sat round waiting patiently, and then a nasty-looking plane circled round.
▪ We stood back in the shadows hypnotized by the flames and a family group circled round them.
slowly
▪ The males responded by puffing up their chests and circling slowly towards each other.
▪ He circled slowly and methodically up, holding his wings in a stiff, lacquered bow, never flapping, always soaring.
▪ Keep your foot flexed and start slowly circling your right leg, at the same time bringing it up in the air.
▪ Feet astride, knees flexed, bodies perfectly balanced, the two began circling slowly, eyes locked, watchful.
Slowly circle your right arm I forward, then up and behind.
▪ Again they circled slowly, eyes locked, alert.
■ NOUN
bird
▪ A pair of night birds circled above, the flapping of their wings and their eerie screeches penetrating the thickening mist.
▪ And as I think this, I watch the birds circling in the sky.
earth
▪ For most of the mission the orbiter will circle the Earth with the payload bay open and facing down towards the ground.
▪ Placed at that single distance, moving at that speed, the object will continue to circle the Earth indefinitely.
globe
▪ And he plans to keep running until he has circled the globe.
▪ To make his vision a reality, Malamud has circled the globe, soliciting support from engineers, businessmen and officials.
helicopter
▪ Now shipwreck looters brave a police helicopter circling overhead as they carry their spoils away by bicycle.
▪ When critical habitat is designated, it does not mean federal agents in unmarked helicopters start circling private property.
▪ Overhead the helicopter circled once more, making a black locust-shaped shadow on the sunlit turf of the plain.
plane
▪ Together they sat and watched the plane circle.
▪ As the plane circled in search of Dee Zed, the jump team was placed in position.
▪ Then, as the plane began to circle above Moon Beach, her head drooped and tears fell into her lap.
▪ However, we sat round waiting patiently, and then a nasty-looking plane circled round.
▪ As they did so, the plane circled lower.
▪ We catch sight of a small plane circling the mountain.
wagon
▪ Instead, leaders increasingly see it as their job to circle the wagons.
▪ There is the natural tendency, too, for players to circle the wagons in the locker room.
▪ Everybody circled up like wagon trains around the bleach vats and wood room and even the goddamn lunch table.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
come/go/turn full circle
▪ A manufacturer of sun care products has just issued a report showing that the view on tanning has come full circle.
▪ Now his fortunes are poised to turn full circle again.
▪ Now the pattern has turned full circle.
▪ Only a classic endures, and sooner or later the fashion comes full circle.
▪ The neo-colonial wheel has almost come full circle.
▪ The wheel has turned full circle in the past 25 years.
▪ Thus the research has come full circle.
▪ Today, society has evolved and the wheel has come full circle.
in polite society/circles/company
▪ You can't use words like that in polite company.
▪ Her passion for natural history became increasingly fashionable in polite society during the 17605.
▪ In the good old days of rampant dualism, the mind was rarely mentioned in polite society.
▪ It was not the sort of thing you did in polite company.
▪ It was obvious from the scenes that such behavior did not belong in polite society.
▪ Trevor Proby is another, of course, but his notables should not be discussed in polite company.
▪ With sad paradox, Mr Punch himself became the man in the Bateman cartoon, unwelcome in polite company.
inner circle
▪ But the vortex fills as he nears its inner circle.
▪ He is not one of the inner circle, and does not know where his orders came from.
▪ His decision was upheld by nearly every senior official in his inner circle.
▪ Hubbell, part of the Clintons' inner circle, is intimately familiar with their financial affairs.
▪ In fact, several guidebooks were conspiracies to conceal this information, and repel invaders from outside the initiated inner circle.
▪ Morris's ideas still provoke tension in the Clinton White House, even if Morris is absent from the inner circle.
▪ The inner circle represents activities that are accepted as sport in all countries and fulfil all of Rodgers' criteria.
▪ The intrigue, if one existed, was worthy of the inner circle of the Imperial court on far distant Knossos.
magic circle
▪ Occultists also claim to cast out demons affecting or possessing one of their number, and even friends outside their magic circles.
▪ Perhaps deities were transported in ships to describe a magic circle of divine protection round the whole island.
the Antarctic Circle
the Arctic Circle
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ As we walked along the beach, I could see seagulls circling above the cliffs.
▪ Glenn circled the date on his calendar.
▪ Helicopters circled overhead, trying to get pictures of the crime scene.
▪ Helicopters circled overhead.
▪ Kelly hit the ball over the fence and circled the bases.
▪ We all looked towards the sky where the vultures were circling.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ And then I saw a bee circling my head and I could not move.
▪ Before leaving, we lowered one of our motorboats to circle the area.
▪ He circled slowly and methodically up, holding his wings in a stiff, lacquered bow, never flapping, always soaring.
▪ Her arms circled his neck, as the words roared unstoppably inside her head.
▪ Instead, leaders increasingly see it as their job to circle the wagons.
▪ The birds flew up noisily, circled, and then they came down and settled in another tree not far away.
▪ You were both circling like gladiators.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Circle

Circle \Cir"cle\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Circled; p. pr. & vb. n. Circling.] [OE. cerclen, F. cercler, fr. L. circulare to make round. See Circle, n., and cf. Circulate.]

  1. To move around; to revolve around.

    Other planets circle other suns.
    --Pope.

  2. To encompass, as by a circle; to surround; to inclose; to encircle.
    --Prior. Pope.

    Their heads are circled with a short turban.
    --Dampier.

    So he lies, circled with evil.
    --Coleridge.

    To circle in, to confine; to hem in; to keep together; as, to circle bodies in.
    --Sir K. Digby.

Circle

Circle \Cir"cle\, v. i. To move circularly; to form a circle; to circulate.

Thy name shall circle round the gaping through.
--Byron.

Circle

Circle \Cir"cle\ (s[~e]r"k'l), n. [OE. cercle, F. cercle, fr. L. circulus (Whence also AS. circul), dim. of circus circle, akin to Gr. kri`kos, ki`rkos, circle, ring. Cf. Circus, Circum-.]

  1. A plane figure, bounded by a single curve line called its circumference, every part of which is equally distant from a point within it, called the center.

  2. The line that bounds such a figure; a circumference; a ring.

  3. (Astron.) An instrument of observation, the graduated limb of which consists of an entire circle.

    Note: When it is fixed to a wall in an observatory, it is called a mural circle; when mounted with a telescope on an axis and in Y's, in the plane of the meridian, a meridian circle or transit circle; when involving the principle of reflection, like the sextant, a reflecting circle; and when that of repeating an angle several times continuously along the graduated limb, a repeating circle.

  4. A round body; a sphere; an orb.

    It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth.
    --Is. xi. 22.

  5. Compass; circuit; inclosure.

    In the circle of this forest.
    --Shak.

  6. A company assembled, or conceived to assemble, about a central point of interest, or bound by a common tie; a class or division of society; a coterie; a set.

    As his name gradually became known, the circle of his acquaintance widened.
    --Macaulay.

  7. A circular group of persons; a ring.

  8. A series ending where it begins, and repeating itself.

    Thus in a circle runs the peasant's pain.
    --Dryden.

  9. (Logic) A form of argument in which two or more unproved statements are used to prove each other; inconclusive reasoning.

    That heavy bodies descend by gravity; and, again, that gravity is a quality whereby a heavy body descends, is an impertinent circle and teaches nothing.
    --Glanvill.

  10. Indirect form of words; circumlocution. [R.]

    Has he given the lie, In circle, or oblique, or semicircle.
    --J. Fletcher.

  11. A territorial division or district. Note: The Circles of the Holy Roman Empire, ten in number, were those principalities or provinces which had seats in the German Diet. Azimuth circle. See under Azimuth. Circle of altitude (Astron.), a circle parallel to the horizon, having its pole in the zenith; an almucantar. Circle of curvature. See Osculating circle of a curve (Below). Circle of declination. See under Declination. Circle of latitude.

    1. (Astron.) A great circle perpendicular to the plane of the ecliptic, passing through its poles.

    2. (Spherical Projection) A small circle of the sphere whose plane is perpendicular to the axis.

      Circles of longitude, lesser circles parallel to the ecliptic, diminishing as they recede from it.

      Circle of perpetual apparition, at any given place, the boundary of that space around the elevated pole, within which the stars never set. Its distance from the pole is equal to the latitude of the place.

      Circle of perpetual occultation, at any given place, the boundary of the space around the depressed pole, within which the stars never rise.

      Circle of the sphere, a circle upon the surface of the sphere, called a great circle when its plane passes through the center of the sphere; in all other cases, a small circle.

      Diurnal circle. See under Diurnal.

      Dress circle, a gallery in a theater, generally the one containing the prominent and more expensive seats.

      Druidical circles (Eng. Antiq.), a popular name for certain ancient inclosures formed by rude stones circularly arranged, as at Stonehenge, near Salisbury.

      Family circle, a gallery in a theater, usually one containing inexpensive seats.

      Horary circles (Dialing), the lines on dials which show the hours.

      Osculating circle of a curve (Geom.), the circle which touches the curve at some point in the curve, and close to the point more nearly coincides with the curve than any other circle. This circle is used as a measure of the curvature of the curve at the point, and hence is called circle of curvature.

      Pitch circle. See under Pitch.

      Vertical circle, an azimuth circle.

      Voltaic circuit or Voltaic circle. See under Circuit.

      To square the circle. See under Square.

      Syn: Ring; circlet; compass; circuit; inclosure.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
circle

c.1300, "figure of a circle," from Old French cercle "circle, ring (for the finger); hoop of a helmet or barrel" (12c.), from Latin circulus "circular figure; small ring, hoop; circular orbit" (also source of Italian cerchio), diminutive of circus "ring" (see circus).\n

\nReplaced Old English trendel and hring. Late Old English used circul, from Latin, but only in an astronomical sense. Meaning "group of persons surrounding a center of interest" is from 1714 (it also was a secondary sense of Latin circulus); that of "coterie" is from 1640s (a sense also found in Latin circulus). To come full circle is in Shakespeare.

circle

late 14c., cerclen, "to shape like a globe," also "to encompass or surround," from circle (n.). From c.1400 as "to set in a circular pattern;" mid-15c. as "to move in a circle." Related: Circled; circling. To circle the wagons, figuratively, "assume an alert defensive stance" is from 1969, from old Western movies.

Wiktionary
circle

n. 1 (lb en geometry) A two-dimensional geometric figure, a line, consisting of the set of all those points in a plane that are equally distant from another point. 2 A two-dimensional geometric figure, a disk, consisting of the set of all those points of a plane at a distance less than or equal to a fixed distance from another point. 3 Any thin three-dimensional equivalent of the geometric figures. 4 A curve that more or less forms part or all of a circle. 5 Orbit. 6 A specific group of persons. 7 (lb en cricket) A line comprising two semicircles of 30 yards radius centred on the wickets joined by straight lines parallel to the pitch used to enforce field restrictions in a one-day match. 8 (lb en Wicca) A ritual circle that is cast three times deosil and closes three times widdershins either in the air with a wand or literally with stones or other items used for worship. 9 (lb en South Africa) A traffic circle or roundabout. 10 (lb en obsolete) Compass; circuit; enclosure. 11 (lb en astronomy) An instrument of observation, whose graduated limb consists of an entire circle. When fixed to a wall in an observatory, it is called a ''mural circle''; when mounted with a telescope on an axis and in Y's, in the plane of the meridian, a ''meridian'' or ''transit circle''; when involving the principle of reflection, like the sextant, a ''reflecting circle''; and when that of repeating an angle several times continuously along the graduated limb, a ''repeating circle''. 12 A series ending where it begins, and repeating itself. 13 (lb en logic) A form of argument in which two or more unproved statements are used to prove each other; inconclusive reasoning. 14 Indirect form of words; circumlocution. 15 A territorial division or district. vb. 1 (context transitive English) To travel around along a curved path. 2 (context transitive English) To surround. 3 (context transitive English) To place or mark a circle around. 4 (context intransitive English) To travel in circles.

WordNet
circle
  1. n. ellipse in which the two axes are of equal length; a plane curve generated by one point moving at a constant distance from a fixed point; "he calculated the circumference of the circle"

  2. an unofficial association of people or groups; "the smart set goes there"; "they were an angry lot" [syn: set, band, lot]

  3. something approximating the shape of a circle; "the chairs were arranged in a circle"

  4. movement once around a course; "he drove an extra lap just for insurance" [syn: lap, circuit]

  5. a road junction at which traffic streams circularly around a central island; "the accident blocked all traffic at the rotary" [syn: traffic circle, rotary, roundabout]

  6. street names for flunitrazepan [syn: R-2, Mexican valium, rophy, rope, roofy, roach, forget me drug]

  7. a curved section or tier of seats in a hall or theater or opera house; usually the first tier above the orchestra; "they had excellent seats in the dress circle" [syn: dress circle]

  8. any circular or rotating mechanism; "the machine punched out metal circles" [syn: round]

circle
  1. v. travel around something; "circle the globe"

  2. move in circles [syn: circulate]

  3. be around; "Developments surround the town"; "The river encircles the village" [syn: surround, environ, encircle, round, ring]

  4. form a circle around; "encircle the errors" [syn: encircle]

Gazetteer
Circle, AK -- U.S. Census Designated Place in Alaska
Population (2000): 100
Housing Units (2000): 42
Land area (2000): 107.672614 sq. miles (278.870779 sq. km)
Water area (2000): 0.540092 sq. miles (1.398832 sq. km)
Total area (2000): 108.212706 sq. miles (280.269611 sq. km)
FIPS code: 14880
Located within: Alaska (AK), FIPS 02
Location: 65.834464 N, 144.076392 W
ZIP Codes (1990): 99733
Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs.
Headwords:
Circle, AK
Circle
Circle, MT -- U.S. town in Montana
Population (2000): 644
Housing Units (2000): 384
Land area (2000): 0.790055 sq. miles (2.046233 sq. km)
Water area (2000): 0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km)
Total area (2000): 0.790055 sq. miles (2.046233 sq. km)
FIPS code: 14950
Located within: Montana (MT), FIPS 30
Location: 47.416987 N, 105.588734 W
ZIP Codes (1990): 59215
Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs.
Headwords:
Circle, MT
Circle
Wikipedia
Circle (disambiguation)

In mathematics, a circle generally is the set of all points in a plane at a fixed distance from a fixed point. Sometimes, it is used to denote the disk bounded by this set.

Circle or circles may also refer to:

Circle (band)

Circle is an experimental rock band, founded in Pori, Finland in 1991. Their eclectic style is "ever changing, ever Circular", classified into genres such as progressive, Krautrock, ambient, heavy metal, speed-kraut, and avant-rock, among others. On some albums they have defined themselves as New Wave of Finnish Heavy Metal (NWOFHM).

Circle (country subdivision)

Circle is a type of administrative division of some countries. In Thailand the former monthon are translated as circle. The former Holy Roman Empire was organized into Imperial Circles (German: Reichskreise). Algerian daïras are circles.

Circle (Boom Bip and Doseone album)

Circle is a collaborative album between producer Boom Bip and rapper/poet Doseone. It is the first album released on Mush Records and the only album ever recorded by the duo. In 2002, the album was released on The Leaf Label in Europe.

Circle (Marques Houston song)

"Circle" is the third single from Marques Houston's third album Veteran. It reached #78 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Circle (Kaela Kimura album)

Circle is the second album by Japanese pop singer Kaela Kimura, released on March 8, 2006.

Circle (sculpture)

Circle is a public artwork by Sadashi Inuzuka. The artwork is located in the ARTSPARK on the grounds of the Indianapolis Art Center (IAC) in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States.

Circle

A circle is a simple closed shape in Euclidean geometry. It is the set of all points in a plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the centre; equivalently it is the curve traced out by a point that moves so that its distance from a given point is constant. The distance between any of the points and the centre is called the radius.

A circle is a simple closed curve which divides the plane into two regions: an interior and an exterior. In everyday use, the term "circle" may be used interchangeably to refer to either the boundary of the figure, or to the whole figure including its interior; in strict technical usage, the circle is only the boundary and the whole figure is called a disk.

A circle may also be defined as a special kind of ellipse in which the two foci are coincident and the eccentricity is 0, or the two-dimensional shape enclosing the most area per unit perimeter squared, using calculus of variations.

Circle (Eddie Izzard)

Circle is the name of a stand-up tour by the comedian Eddie Izzard in 2000.

It was released on VHS and DVD in the United Kingdom on 18 November 2002. The video includes Eddie performing a French version of his show with English subtitles.

The performance features many of Izzard's traditional themes, particularly religion (or "philosophies with some good ideas, and some fucking weird ones"). A discussion about Jesus' role in the three main Abrahamic faiths sees him "waiting offstage" in Judaism and playing on the same sporting team as Muhammad in Islam. This is counterpointed with a dialogue between a Crusader and his enemy in which both men are trying to kill the other "in the name of Jesus". He also mentions his impression that in Buddhism, Jesus is "Buddha's baby brother Benny".

The rigidity of religion is also lampooned, particularly as it relates to the Renaissance. Galileo's persecution by the Catholic Church is mentioned, although the man is eventually asked (in prison) "Galileo, Galileo, will you do the fandango?"

Several concepts featured in "Circle" have become well known among Izzard fans. Among these is a discussion of the Pope, specifically the names chosen by new popes, with the idea being that Popes John and John Paul will eventually be followed by Pope John Paul George and Ringo. A subsequent sequence talks about the renaming of a wartime pope as "Pope Gutless Bastard I" due to his refusal to condemn Adolf Hitler.

Another famous dialogue involves another appearance of "God and Jesus" (where God is represented by a James Mason impression). Among other issues, this dialogue involves God questioning the wisdom of Jesus being born on Christmas Day and dying at Easter, as well as involving "cannibalism" and "vampirism" in the new religion. The sequence culminates in suggestions of what else could have been used at the Last Supper, most notably "take these oysters, for they are my kneecaps".

Perhaps the most famous part of the routine, however, is Izzard's " Death Star Canteen", derived from Izzard's observation that there had to be some sort of source of food (such as a cafeteria) on the Death Star in the Star Wars movies. This observation results in an extended dialogue in which Darth Vader is attempting to order " Penne all'arrabbiata" for lunch, only to be forced to get a tray (which is wet) and later be forced to admit that he is "Jeff Vader" in order to get respect.

Circle (jazz band)

Circle was an avant garde jazz ensemble active in 1970 and 1971. The group arose from pianist Chick Corea's early 1970s trio with Dave Holland on bass and Barry Altschul on drums and percussion with the addition of Anthony Braxton in a leading role on several reed instruments. The group's earliest (and only studio) recordings were made in 1970 for the Blue Note label but not released until 1975 under Corea's name. A live double album appeared on the ECM label in 1972. These recordings document a period in which Corea's work was steeped in the jazz avant garde, prior to his complete shift to the jazz fusion orientation. Corea, Holland and Altschul also recorded the album A.R.C. for ECM in 1971, but it was not released under the band name Circle.

Circle (Amorphis album)

Circle is the eleventh studio album by Finnish heavy metal band Amorphis, released on 17 April 2013, through Victor Entertainment and on 19 April 2013, through Nuclear Blast. Recorded at Petrax Studio in Hollola and at 5K Studios in Helsinki, it is the first Amorphis album since Far from the Sun (2003) not to be produced by Marco Hietala, or to be based on the Finnish national epic Kalevala. Instead, Circle was produced by Peter Tägtgren and focuses on an original story penned by lyricist Pekka Kainulainen.

Circle (2014 film)

Circle is a 2014 film written and directed by director Atil Inac.

Circle (Big Head Todd and the Monsters song)

"Circle" was the third single from Boulder, Colorado-based rock band Big Head Todd and the Monsters' major label debut album Sister Sweetly, which eventually went platinum. It reached #21 on the Mainstream Rock Chart, with their first two singles, " Bittersweet" and " Broken Hearted Savior", also charting.

Big Head Todd & the Monsters performed "Circle" during an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman1. A music video was also made, which features the band playing the song live interspersed with clips of a dog chained to a post, running in circles while his master holds up sheets of OSB with various shapes painted on them.

Category:1993 singles Category:Big Head Todd and the Monsters songs Category:1993 songs

Circle (company)

Circle is a peer-to-peer payments technology company utilizing bitcoin and traditional fiat currencies. Founded by Jeremy Allaire and Sean Neville in October 2013, Circle’s mobile payment platform, Circle Pay, allows users to hold, send, and receive traditional fiat currencies - similar to payment app Venmo. Circle Pay can also operate as a bitcoin wallet service to buy and sell bitcoins. In September 2015, Circle received the first BitLicense issued from the New York State Department of Financial Services. In April 2016, the British government approved the first virtual currency licensure to Circle. Circle is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

Circle (2015 film)

Circle is a 2015 American psychological thriller film written and directed by Aaron Hann and Mario Miscione. It stars an ensemble cast that includes Carter Jenkins, Lawrence Kao, Allegra Masters, Michael Nardelli, Julie Benz, Mercy Malick, Lisa Pelikan, and Cesar Garcia. It was inspired by the 1957 drama 12 Angry Men and was shot in 2014. It premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival on May 28, 2015, before being released to video-on-demand on October 16, 2015. In the film, fifty people wake up in a darkened room, only to find that one of them is killed every two minutes or when they attempt to leave. When they realize that they can control which person is selected to die, blocs emerge based on personal values.

Usage examples of "circle".

Tim had always found himself especially attuned to the deserted charms of Candie Gardens in winter, enjoying the bare traceries of the trees and the widened harbour view, the few points of colour against the monochrome background - the red and pink of the camellias near the top gate, the hanging yellow bells of the winter-flowering abutilon with their red clappers, even the iridescence of the mallard drake circling the largest of the ponds with his speckled mate.

These were the silent, empty remains of the accelerator ring that had once circled the planet, that had created the antimatter that fueled its economy, that had berthed its ships, warehoused its goods, and supported the lives of eighty million people.

Clean and trim a large striped bass, cut two incisions across the back, tie in a circle, and boil slowly in salted and acidulated water for forty minutes.

There were deep circles under his eyes, his skin was red and swollen from the acne that ran across it.

All he wanted now was the chance to show everyone in their circle of friends his acumen and his strength of purpose.

An acutely satiric man in an English circle, that does not resort to the fist for a reply to him, may almost satiate the excessive fury roused in his mind by an illogical people of a provocative prosperity, mainly tongueless or of leaden tongue above the pressure of their necessities, as he takes them to be.

Typically readers simply circle a number that corresponds to an advertiser, and the publication forwards the cards to the company, which can follow up with a phone contact or by sending requested literature.

The way that extreme service works k best exemplified by a story that has been circulating in advertising and marketing circles for years.

The relation- ship between editorial and advertising is much closer in trade publishing than it is in consumer circles.

Lieutenant Kurt and the Chinese aeronaut and a dead cow, and much other uncongenial company, in the huge circle of the Whirlpool two and a quarter miles away.

Finning itself into a frenzy, the afanc began swimming in circles above the group.

He made twisting motions to get the idea across to Alb, but the young man just stood there stupidly, no doubt listening to the gibes of his own circle of friends.

The alcalde took his station near the trunk of the great oak, and summoned the prisoners and their accusers before him, while the crowd gathered in a grim and stern-faced circle around this improvised courtroom.

All the other customers had been thrown hundreds of yards away in every direction, and the merchandise had exploded into its component ions, except for the alembic, which sat in the center of the circle shining like an atomic pile.

The Amar knelt beside him in their circle lying hidden outside a broad clearing.