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circus
[ sur-kuhs ]
noun
- a large public entertainment, typically presented in one or more very large tents or in an outdoor or indoor arena, featuring exhibitions of pageantry, feats of skill and daring, performing animals, etc., interspersed throughout with the slapstick antics of clowns. Compare big top.
- a troupe of performers, especially a traveling troupe, that presents such entertainments, together with officials, other employees, and the company's performing animals, traveling wagons, tents, cages, and equipment.
- anything resembling such public entertainments, as an event or activity that is wildly active, disordered, sensational, etc.:
That whole trial was a circus.
- a circular arena surrounded by tiers of seats, in which public entertainments are held; arena.
- (in ancient Rome)
- a large, usually oblong or oval, roofless enclosure, surrounded by tiers of seats rising one above another, for chariot races, public games, etc.
- an entertainment given in this Roman arena, as a chariot race or public game:
The Caesars appeased the public with bread and circuses.
- anything resembling the Roman circus, or arena, as a natural amphitheater or a circular range of houses.
- British. an open circle, square, or plaza where several streets converge:
Piccadilly Circus.
- Obsolete. a circlet or ring.
circus
/ ˈɜːə /
noun
- a travelling company of entertainers such as acrobats, clowns, trapeze artistes, and trained animals
- a public performance given by such a company
- an oval or circular arena, usually tented and surrounded by tiers of seats, in which such a performance is held
- a travelling group of professional sportsmen
a cricket circus
- in ancient Rome
- an open-air stadium, usually oval or oblong, for chariot races or public games
- the games themselves
- an open place, usually circular, in a town, where several streets converge
- ( capital when part of a name )
Piccadilly Circus
- informal.noisy or rowdy behaviour
- informal.a person or group of people whose behaviour is wild, disorganized, or (esp unintentionally) comic
Other Word Forms
- ·ܲ· adjective
Word History and Origins
Origin of circus1
Word History and Origins
Origin of circus1
Idioms and Phrases
see three-ring circus .Example Sentences
In a statement coinciding with the start of the hearings, Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said it had decided "not to take part in this circus".
The balls, used instead of wheels, on his omnidirectional battery-powered bike are the same type as used by circus acrobats and are self-balancing.
I don't know the political leanings of either of Austin Metcalf's parents, but there is no universe in which being the centerpiece of a racialized circus is helping them deal with this nightmarish situation.
Some teams have been put off by the 'circus' - including his outspoken father - that surrounds Sanders, so some analysts fear he could slide out of the top-five picks, perhaps into the second round.
“It was quite a circus, I can tell you that,” Tygner says, laughing.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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