▪ I. circle, n.
(ˈsɜːk(ə)l)
Forms: 1–2 circul, 3–6 cercle, 4–6 sercle, cerkle, (also 4 cercul(l, 4–5 cerkil, serkle, serkel(e, 5 ceercle, cer-, serkyll(e, 6 serkell, cirkle, cyrcle, 7 circel); 6– circle.
[In OE. circul (in Astronomy, sense 2), a. L. circul-us; in ME. cercle, a. F. cercle:—L. circul-us, dim. of circ-us (in Gr. also κίρκος, κρίκος) a round, a ring. From the 16th c. altered to circle under influence of the L.]
I. As a figure or appearance.
1. a. A perfectly round plane figure. In Geom. defined as a plane figure bounded by a single curved line, called the circumference, which is everywhere equally distant from a point within, called the centre. But often applied to the circumference alone, without the included space.
to square the circle: to find a square of the same area as a given circle (a famous problem, incapable of geometrical solution). See square, quadrature.
| c 1305 Edmund Conf. 232 in E.E.P. (1862) 77 Þreo rounde cerclen heo wrot: in þe paume amidde. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 173 A sparke of fire, turnede aboute in derke nyȝte, semes to make cercul. 1413 Lydg. Pilgr. Sowle v. (1859) 70 In the circumference of eueriche of these cercles was sette a lytel Cercle. 1483 Cath. Angl. 56 Half a Cerkylle, semicirculus. 1571 Digges Pantom. iii. xi. S, Their circumferences or circles. 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie ii. xi. [xii.] (Arb.) 111 The beame is a line stretching directly from the circle to the center, and contrariwise from the center to the circle. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, i. ii. 133 Glory is like a Circle in the Water, Which neuer ceaseth to enlarge it selfe. 1665 Boyle Occas. Refl. v. x. (1675) 338 Archimedes..was so busie in tracing his Circles. 1796 Hutton Math. Dict. I. 284/2 The circumference or periphery itself is called the circle, though improperly, as that name denotes the space contained within the circumference. 1851 Ruskin Mod. Paint. II. iii. i. vi. §11 The resulting curve, the circle, is..the least beautiful of all curves. 1877 E. Conder Bas. Faith ii. 67 A circle whose centre is everywhere and its circumference nowhere. 1884 Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. & Ferns 276 These twelve bundles would be arranged in a circle if they had a radially perpendicular course. |
b. In a vaguer and more general sense.
| c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. I. 250 Þat heering shulde be in a sercle, bifore men and bihinde men, and on ech side of men. c 1400 Destr. Troy 1658 There were bordis full bright aboute in þat sale, Set in a cercle, of Sedur tre fyn. 1647–51 Cleveland Poems 45 When he would lie down, he wheels about; Makes circles, and is couchant in a ring. 1713 Johnson Guardian No. 1 ¶1 Inclosed in a circle of foliages. 1842 Tennyson Gardener's Dau. 211 Love..in the circle of his arms Enwound us both. 1877 Bryant Among Trees 31 The mightiest with their circles of strong roots. |
c. Colloq. phr. to go, run or rush (a)round in circles: to rush about in all directions; to move or act aimlessly or inconclusively.
| 1933 H. L. Ickes Secret Diary 27 Sept. (1953) I. 99, I asked the oil people to supply the..necessary facts and figures. They keep promising to do it but according to the solicitors they don't furnish them. The result is that we have been running around in circles. 1940 G. Butler Kiss Blood off my Hands i. 11 They were running around in circles, shouting and blaming each other. 1942 ‘P. Wentworth’ Pursuit of Parcel xxxvi. 168 He had been rushing around in circles because he didn't dare to stop and think what might be happening to Delia. 1953 H. Waugh Last Seen Wearing ― 58 We've been going around in circles long enough. If she's down there I want to know it. |
2. spec. a. Astr.
circle of altitude: a small circle parallel to the horizon, having its pole in the zenith; an almacantar.
circle of curvature (see curvature).
circle of declination: a great circle passing through the poles of the celestial equator.
circle of illumination: a circle passing through the centre of a planet perpendicular to a line drawn from the sun to the planet, and so separating its illuminated and unilluminated hemispheres.
circle of latitude: (a) on the celestial sphere, a great circle perpendicular to the plane of the ecliptic; (b) on the terrestrial sphere, a meridian on which latitude is measured; also used = parallel of latitude.
circle of longitude: (a) on the celestial sphere, a small circle parallel to the ecliptic; (b) on the terrestrial sphere = parallel of latitude.
circle of perpetual apparition: that circle around the elevated celestial pole at any place, within which the stars never set.
circle of perpetual occultation: that circle around the depressed pole, within which the stars never rise.
circle of position (see position).
diurnal circle: the circle described by a heavenly body in its apparent diurnal rotation round the earth.
great circle (of a sphere): a circle on the surface of a sphere, whose plane passes through the centre; small circle, any circle on the surface of a sphere, whose plane does not pass through the centre.
horary circles: the lines marking the hours on a sundial. (See also 13 a.)
polar circle: a circle parallel to the equator, at a distance from either pole equal to the greatest declination of the ecliptic.
vertical circle: a great circle perpendicular to the horizon.
| c 1000 Sax. Leechd. III. 238 Þær ðæs emnihtes circul is ᵹeteald. Ibid. III. 244 Þone miclan circul zodiacum. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. viii. vii. (1495) 305 There is a South Cercle of heuen that markyth that parte of the cercle that hyghte Zodiacus. 1553 Eden Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.) 32 Beyond ye circle called Tropicus Capricorni. 1570 Levins Manip. 142/23 The circle of Cancer, tropicus cancri. Ibid. 142/27 The cirkle equinoctial. 1556 Recorde The Castle of Knowledge 91 The climates may well be accompted 48 betwene the twoo polare circles. 1594 Blundevil Exerc. iii. i. ix. (ed. 7) 292 The lesser Circles..the two Tropiques, and the two polar Circles. Ibid. iii. i. xvi. 309 What be Colures? They be great movable Circles passing thorow both the Poles of the World, which the Astronomers do otherwise call circles of declination. 1752 Johnson Rambler No. 197 ¶11 The seamen..would talk of longitude and latitude and circles and tropicks. 1774 M. Mackenzie Maritime Surv. 58 When the Star approaches near to the Plumb-lines on the other side of its diurnal Circle. 1834 Nat. Philos. III. Math. Geog. ii. (Usef. Knowl. Ser.) 5/2 Meridians are also called circles of latitude, because upon them the latitudes of places are measured. Ibid., Navig. iii. 27 Great circles..passing through the zenith of any place, are called vertical circles. |
b. Naut. great circle sailing: navigation along the arc of a great circle of the earth.
| 1594 J. Davis Seaman's Secr. (1607) 1 Great Circle navigation, which teacheth how upon a great Circle drawn between any two places assigned..the Ship may bee conducted. 1652 H. Philipps Geom. Seaman 48 You may sail by the arch of a great Circle. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1789) s.v. Order of Sailing, Hence we say..parallel and great circle sailing. c 1850 Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 50 In 1561, Cortez..advocated the adoption of Great Circle Sailing, in opposition to that by Plumb-lines. |
c. Photogr. circle of confusion, (also in Physics) circle of least confusion: see quots.
| 1867 Sutton & Dawson Dict. Photogr. 57 Circle of least confusion, the nearest approach to a focus of a pencil after oblique reflexion or refraction. 1903 Beck & Andrews Photogr. Lenses (ed. 2) iii. 58 When the screen reaches X the circle of illumination will be the smallest size attainable with the lens under consideration, the circle at this point is called the circle of least confusion. 1906 R. C. Bayley Complete Photogr. xii. 150 ‘Depth of focus’..depends upon the size of what is termed the ‘circle of confusion’. 1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 163/2 Circle of confusion, the minimum area of a focused bright point of light, the size of which determines the maximum definition possible with a given lens arrangement and stop. 1953 Amos & Birkinshaw Telev. Engin. i. ix. 173 Objects near the object plane give images which are only slightly blurred, points being reproduced as circles which are known as circles of confusion. 1958 H. J. Gray Dict. Physics 88/2 Circle of least confusion, circle through which all the rays over the aperture pass. 1961 Sowerby Dict. Photogr. 120 It is usually assumed that a circle of confusion of 1/100 in. corresponds to the boundary between ‘sharp’ and ‘unsharp’ in a print held at the normal viewing distance of about 10 in. from the eye. 1961 Webster, Circle of confusion, the indistinct circular patch formed by a lens representing the out-of-focus image of a single object point—called also blur circle. Ibid., Circle of least confusion (Physics), the minimum cross section of a symmetrical bundle of rays that have no common focus because of spherical aberration. |
3. As a figure of magic or necromancy.
| 1529 More Dial. Heresyes i. Wks. 120/1 Negromancers put their trust in their cercles, within which thei thinke them self sure against all y⊇ deuils in hel. 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, v. ii. 320 If you would coniure in her, you must make a Circle. 1600 ― A.Y.L. ii. v. 62. 1709 Strype Ann. Ref. I. xii. 164 Many did use enchantments, invocations, circles, witchcrafts, soothsaying. 1717 Bullock Wom. Riddle iv. i. 44, I believe you'd raise the Devil to obtain a circle. 1768–74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1852) II. 419 The magic circle of passion whirling them perpetually in a giddy round of unavailing trifles. |
4. a. formerly, The sphere or ‘heaven’ in which a heavenly body was supposed to revolve. b. now, The orbit of a planet or other body.
| 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 7640 Oboven us er alle þe planetes seven, And þe cercle of ilk ane es called ane heven. 1340 Ayenb. 141 Ase he [saturne] deþ ine þritti yer ine his oȝene sercle and ine his oȝene yernnge. c 1400 Destr. Troy 4038 The sun in his serkyll set in þe last, Passyng fro pisshes. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 188 Y⊇..sterres hath..an other [motion] by the mouyng of the fyrst orbe whiche draweth them with him in his circle euery day. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 746 Hee thought the Sunne, would soner have fallen from his circle. 1611 Bible Wisd. xiii. 2 The swift aire, or the circle of the stars. 1842 Tennyson Love & Duty 23 The Sun will run his orbit, and the Moon Her circle. 1849 Grote Greece (1862) V. ii. lx. 276 Thrice nine days, a full circle of the moon. |
5. The orb of a heavenly body.
| [(?) 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 578 Amid the Suns bright circle where thou sitst.] 1769 Horne Fatal Discov. iv, Sunk in the western wave, The Sun but half his glorious circle shews. 1821 Byron Cain ii. i. 29 Yon small blue circle, swinging in far ether. |
6. A luminous ring in the sky, a halo.
circle of Ulloa: a luminous ring or white rainbow sometimes appearing in alpine regions opposite the sun during foggy weather (named after Antonio Ulloa in 18th c.)
| a 1123 O.E. Chron. an. 1104 On þam Tiwæs dæᵹe þæræfter ætywdan feower circulas..Onbutan þære sunnan hwites hiwes. 1655 W. F. Meteors iii. 37 Rich Meteors, whose matter is most of the Air. Of this sort be..Circles, Rain⁓bowes. Ibid. iii. 73 The circle called Halon is a garland of divers colours that is seen about the Sunne, the Moon, or any other Star. Ibid. iii. 75 A great circle about the Moon, betokeneth great cold and frost to follow after. 1815 T. Forster Researches Atmosph. Phen. 99. |
7. a. Applied to ring-like markings; e.g. to fairy-rings. white circle: old name of the Milky way.
| 1596 Nashe Saffron Walden O iv, More..creases..in his face than there be fairie circles on Salsburie Plaine. 1655 W. F. Meteors iii. 37 The White Circle, called of some Watling street. Ibid. 81 The milke way is a white circle seen in a cleare night. Ibid. V. 151 Those round Circles which are seen in many fields, that ignorant People affirm to be the rings of the Fairies dances. a 1799 Withering in Phil. Trans. XCVII. 135 The bare and brown, or highly cloathed and verdant circles in pasture fields called Fairy-rings. |
b. A dark circular mark around or beneath the eyes, noticeable esp. in delicate or sick persons, or in persons who have slept badly.
| 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xiv. 118 Her face might be a trifle paler, and the circles round her eyes a little blacker than usual. 1893 ‘S. Grand’ Heavenly Twins III. v. iv. 60 There were great black circles round his sunken eyes. 1906 Galsworthy Man of Property ii. xi. 244 There were circles under her eyes, as though she had not slept. 1932 A. Christie Peril at End House vi. 75 The circles under her eyes were darker than usual. |
† 8. Med. The highest ‘region’ of urine. Obs.
| 1533 Elyot Cast. Helthe (1541) 87 b, In urine, being in a vessell apt therunto to be sene, are thre regions..The hyghest region is the cerkle. 1625 Hart Anat. Ur. i. i. 51 If they compasse and enuiron but the halfe of the circle or garland, then do they argue a paine in one side of the head. |
II. As a thing material.
9. A ring, circlet, annulet.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 8242 Aboute þat tre A siluer cerkil sone naylede he. 1382 Wyclif Prov. xi. 22 A goldene cercle in the nose thirlis..of a souwe. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. vi. xiv. 86 A cerkil was Sene..as of Bras. |
10. a. A band encircling the head; a crown, coronet, diadem.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter xx. 3 Þe whilk ere about him til his fairehed, as a cercle in a mannys heued. 1460 Lybeaus Disc. 841 A sercle upon her molde, Of stones and of golde. 1595 Shakes. John v. i. 2 Thus haue I yeelded vp into your hand The Circle of my glory [Giues Pand. the Crowne.] 1600 Dekker Fortunatus Wks. (1873) 93 These browes fill up the golden circle of rich Portugall. 1661 Evelyn Diary (1827) II. 166 The Barons put off their caps and circles. 1716–8 Lady M. W. Montague Lett. I. xxxii. 111 The head-dress is..bound on..with a circle of diamonds. 1800 Coleridge Piccolom. iii. i, In his dream of hope he grasps already The golden circle. |
† b. A band or wreath surmounting or encircling a knight's helmet. Obs.
| c 1314 Guy Warw. (A.) 3857 A helme he haþ on him don..The sercle of golde þer-on was wrouȝt. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 1600 Þe cercles þat were on hur helmes set, of perre y-mad & golde. c 1450 Merlin xiv. 220 He made sheeldes shiver fro nekkes, and helmes from hedes, that the serkeles fly a-sonder. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon ix. 24 He stroke Charlot on the helme in suche wyse that the serkell nor coyfe of stele cowd not defende hym. |
11. a. The ring of a circus. b. One of the galleries or tiers of seats in a theatre; the lowest, containing the most expensive seats, is called the dress circle; that above, the upper circle or family circle.
| 1623 W. Sclater Tythes Revised 184 Thou shalt not goe to the Circle or Theatre. 1768 Lady M. W. Montague Poems (1785) 25 Plays, operas, circles I no more must view! 1836–9 Dickens Sk. Boz, Private Theatres, Whose partially corked eyebrows, and half-rouged face, testify to the fact of his having just left the stage or the circle. 1878 N. Amer. Rev. CXXVII. 484 There they sit in splendid array, in the dress-circle, close to the royal box. |
12. Archæol. A series of stones set up in a ring, such as those at Avebury and Stonehenge.
| 1772 Pennant Tours Scotl. (1774) 180 These circles were formed for religious purposes. 1839 J. Yeowell Anc. Brit. Ch. xii. (1847) 136 A large block of hewn granite such as the Druids used for forming their circles. 1861 Sat. Rev. 7 Sept. 253 The well-known Druidical circle of Arborlow. 1879 Lubbock Sc. Lect. vi. 172 The venerable circle of Abury, perhaps the most interesting of our great national monuments. |
13. The name of various instruments. a. Astr. An instrument of observation, the graduated limb of which consists of an entire circle, as mural circle, reflecting c., repeating c., transit c. (see mural, etc.). Also, horary circle, a metal circle on a globe, marked with the hours, and shewing the difference of meridians in time.
b. in Bookbinding: (see quot.).
| 1837 Whittock Bk. Trades (1842) 37 The letters and ornaments are engraved in relievo on the points of punches or on the edges of circles of brass. |
14. Anat.
circles of Haller: the fibro-cartilaginous rings to which the mitral and tricuspid valves of the heart are attached. circle of Willis: see quot.
| 1840 G. Ellis Anat. 20 By the anastomosis of the internal carotid and basilar arteries at the base of the brain, they give rise to an arterial circle..named the circle of Willis. |
† 15. See quot. and snail. Obs.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 66 Cercle, clepyd the snayle, as of Pentys, and other lyke, spira. |
III. In transferred and figurative senses.
16. a. The circuit or compass of a place, etc.
| a 1400 Pistel of Susan 10 Withinne þe sercle of sees. c 1400 Destr. Troy 11682 Hit is keppit..Within the cercle of the Cité. c 1440 Gesta Rom. xix. 65 How many daies iourney beth in þe sercle of the world? 1595 Shakes. John v. ii. 136 To whip this dwarfish warre, this Pigmy Armes From out the circle of his Territories. 1666 Evelyn Mem. (1857) II. 14 The poor inhabitants were dispersed about St. George's Fields, and Moorfields, as far as Highgate, and several miles in circle. |
b. (With capital initial.) The name given to a line on the Underground railway in London; the ‘Inner Circle’ (cf. inner a.).
| 1886 H. Baumann Londinismen 26/1 Circle..Londoner Eisenbahn: Circle trains, Züge der unterirdischen Bahn. 1903 Punch 30 Sept. 231 Uncle Jack is coming to meet us by a Circle Train. 1907 Westm. Gaz. 7 Nov. 10/3 The only chance for the effective working of the ‘Circle’ lay in the arrangements being taken over entirely by one of the two companies. 1955 ‘W. Mole’ Hammersmith Maggot v. 60 Perry walked primly down to the Circle platform... He took the eastbound Circle train. 1970 G. Lord Marshmallow Pie v. 53 They went down on the platform to wait for the Circle Line train. |
17. a. A completed revolution or course of time, or of action, or events in time; a cycle, period.
b. ‘Any series ending as it begins, and perpetually repeated’ (J.); a round.
| c 1400 Apol. Loll. 77 If ani be in possessioun of oþer mennis þingis by a cercle of ȝeris, he shal ioi it as his oune. 1562 Turner Baths 6 a, I heare saye that in diuers circles or goynges aboute of yeares, the nature of the bathes is sharper. a 1656 Bp. Hall Breathings Devout Soul (1851) 178 Lord God, what a wearisome circle do I walk in here below! 1689–90 Temple Ess. Learn. Wks. 1731 I. 159 Science and Arts have run their Circles, and had their Periods in the several Parts of the World. 1738 Wesley Hymns, ‘Infinite Power, Eternal Lord’, And all the Hours obedient run The Circle of the Day. 1874 Sayce Compar. Phil. viii. 301 The circle of the year. |
c. So in phr. full circle, quite round.
| 1605 Shakes. Lear v. iii. 174 The Wheele is come full circle (Qq. circled), I am heere. 1878 Browning La Saisiaz 70 Thus have we come back full circle. |
18. A completed chain, series, or sequence of parts forming a connected whole.
| 1531 Elyot Gov. i. xiii, The worlde of science, [or] the circle of doctrine, whiche is in one worde of greke Encyclopedia. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 293 ¶3 If I thought the whole Circle of our Being was concluded between our Births and Deaths. 1759 B. Martin Nat. Hist. Eng. I. 71 That nothing might be wanting to compleat the Circle of Pleasures in this City. 1854 (title) Orr's Circle of the Sciences: A Series of Treatises on the Principles of Science. 1856 Dove Logic Chr. Faith vi. §1. 336 Every problem with its solution forms, when solved, a circle. 1869 J. Martineau Ess. II. 155 The luminous circle of demonstrative truth. |
19. Logic. A fallacious mode of reasoning, wherein a proposition is used to establish a conclusion, and afterwards proved by means of the conclusion which it has been employed to establish; so that, as in a circle, there is really no starting-point. Hence to reason or argue in a circle.
| 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. i. iv. (1686) 11 The Circle of this fallacy is very large. 1647 H. More Song of Soul i. ii. lxxx, You dispute in a Circle as all Logicians know. 1659 South Serm. I. 101 This he explodes as a Circle, and so derides it. 1724 Watts Logic (1736) 315 That Sort of Fallacy which is called a Circle is very near akin to the Petitio Principii. 1837 Whately Logic 225 Arguing in a circle must necessarily be unfair, though it is frequently practised undesignedly. 1876 E. Mellor Priesth. iv. 161 The authority of the law is demanded, and he [Cardinal Wiseman] cites the disputed passage. A more palpable and vicious circle was never devised. |
20. A number of persons standing or seated round a person or object of interest; ‘an assembly surrounding the principal person’ (J.), as at Court, at a Drawing-room or Levée, etc.
| 1714 Lond. Gaz. No. 5271/2 The Queen has had a Circle every Evening. 1766 Fordyce Serm. Yng. Wom. (1767) I. i. 35 Casting..maternal regards..through the pretty smiling circle. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. 291 A splendid circle of English nobles and statesmen stood round the throne. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 49 There was also a circle of lookers on. |
21. a. A number of persons united by acquaintance, common sentiments, interests, etc.; a ‘set’ or coterie; a class or division of society, consisting of persons who associate together.
| 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. i. ix. (1686) 26, I shall have reason and experience of every Circle to support me. 1752 Fielding Covent Gard. Jrnl. 9 May, He quotes the phrases ‘a polite circle’, ‘the circle of one's acquaintance’, ‘people that live within a certain circle’. 1793 Boswell Johnson Pref. ed. 2 The felicity which he diffused through a wide circle of admirers and friends. 1796 Jane Austen Pride & Prej. ix, Threw a real gloom over their domestic circle. Ibid. xviii, It is evident that you belong to the first circles. 1878 Black Green Past. ii. 16 Don't you think that one ought to try to understand what is going on outside one's immediate circle? 1880 L. Stephen Pope viii. 195 The staple talk of the circles in which he moved. 1885 Manch. Exam. 12 Aug. 5/4 The death of Lord Houghton..will leave a blank in political, social, and literary circles. |
b. spec. = séance 2.
| 1856 Spiritual Herald May 124, I attended three public circles in the spirit-house of Mr. Koons. 1864 Browning Dram. Pers. 179 David holds the circle... Sets to the spirit-writing, hears the raps. 1867 [see spirit n. 23 g]. 1926 Conan Doyle Hist. Spiritualism II. xviii. 111 The process at work in the formation of ectoplasm at a circle. |
22. Hist. A territorial divison of Germany under the Holy Roman Empire. Also a secondary division in certain German and Slavonic provinces. [G. Kreis, F. cercle.]
| 1675 Lond. Gaz. No. 980/2, 400 Men of the Circle of Saxony. Ibid. No. 1040/2 The Troops of the Circles have already passed the Rhine. 1700 J. A. Astry tr. Saavedra's Royal Pol. I. Pref., The most Serene House and Circle of Burgundy. 1712 Lond. Gaz. No. 4993/1 Those of the Electoral Circle of the Rhine are met. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. II. 347 The Austrian Netherlands..were considered as a circle of the empire. 1865 Baring-Gould Werewolves xiv. 239 In the circle of Tornow, in Western Galicia—the province is divided into nine circles. |
23. A non-material region or realm marked off, as a circle is by its circumference; the area over which anything is conceived of as acting or exerting influence. Cf. sphere.
| 1664 Power Exp. Philos. Pref. 17 To be within the circle of possibilities. 1752 Johnson Rambler No. 196 ¶7 If he adventures into the circle of action. 1850 Mrs. Browning Drama of Exile, The circle of God's life Contains all life beside. 1851 D. Jerrold St. Giles xv. 149 Whether it was in the circle of probability for one so respectably born, etc. 1878 Browning La Saisiaz 13 All around Nature, and inside her circle. |
† 24. Phr. to give the lie in circle: i.e. circuitously, indirectly. Obs.
| 1610 B. Jonson Alch. iii. iv, Face. Rules To give and take the Lie by. Kas. How? to take it? Face. Yes, in Oblique he'll shew you, or in Circle, But never in Diameter. c 1616 Fletcher Queen Corinth iv. i, Has he given the lye In circle or oblique, or semicircle, Or direct parallel? |
25. attrib. and Comb., as circle-parade, circle-squarer, circle-squaring; circle-branching, circle-like, circle-spread, adjs.; circle-iron (see quot.); † circle-mure v. = circummure; circle-rider U.S., a cowboy engaged in circle-riding; circle-riding U.S., a method of gathering in cattle (see quot.); circle-tomb (see quot.: cf. 12).
| 1600 S. Nicholson Acolastus (1876) 35 A *circle-braunching tree. |
| 1874 Knight Amer. Mech. Dict., *Circle-iron, a hollow punch for cutting planchets, wads, wafers, and circular blanks; the fifth wheel of a carriage. |
| a 1420 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 184 *Cerclelyk shappe is most perfite figure. |
| 1567 J. Maplet Gr. Forest 39 Crowtoe..His roote *circlelike or round. |
| 1606 Breton Ourania I ij a, *Circle-muring strong their pettie fort With Pallazado Flanker Loop and Porte. |
| 1809 Roland Fencing 43 On the Use of the *Circle Parade. |
| 1888 T. Roosevelt in Century Mag. Apr. 860/1 As soon as..the last *circle-riders have come in..we begin to work the herd. 1926 D. Branch Cowboy & his Interpreters 56 In rough country where each little ravine must be searched and each knoll circled, each group of ‘circle riders’ would be smaller than groups in unbroken plains country. |
| 1888 T. Roosevelt in Century Mag. Apr. 857/2 This morning work is called *circle riding... As the band goes out, the leader from time to time detaches one or two men to ride.., making the shorter, or what are called inside, circles, while he keeps on, and finally..makes the longest or outside circle himself. |
| 1632 Lithgow Trav. (1682) 185 Their *circle-spred tops. |
| 1859 Sala Gaslight & D. xvi. 174 So with the *circle-squarers, perpetual motion discoverers. |
| 1889 Athenæum May 4 576 In one of the *circle-tombs peculiar to the necroplis of that place [Vetulonia] (so called because surrounded by a rude stone circle). |
Senses 16–25 in Dict. become 17–26. Add: [II.] 16. A crop circle (see *crop n. 22).
| 1980 Now! 29 Aug. 21/3, I have never seen marks cut as deeply as these recent circles. The spiral effect is important. 1982 G. T. Meaden in Jrnl. Meteorol. VII. lxvi. 47 As with the Westbury ‘circles’.., the circles are all clockwise spirals. 1987 Flying Saucer Rev. xxxii. vi 12/2 While we continue to use the term ‘circles’ in general, very few of them are actually perfectly round. 1993 J. Schnabel Round in Circles vi. 65 [He] began to assert in his confident, somewhat headmasterish manner that the circles were definitely caused by whirlwinds, and that any other theory was foolish and misguided and unscientific. |
▸ circle change n. Baseball a slow pitch used as a changeup, in which a pitcher bends the forefinger into the thumb before throwing the ball from the palm (see quot. 1992).
| [1985 Los Angeles Times 18 Oct. vi. 20/1 Did anyone really yearn to hear detailed analysis of the circle change-up?... Or that the circle change-up is a half screwball, but not a true screwball?] 1988 Chicago Tribune 21 Sept. iv. 4/4 The *circle change has replaced the split-fingered fastball..as the glamor pitch of the '80s. 1992 N. Ryan & J. Jenkins Miracle Man xiii. 159, I did develop what's called a circle change, where you use your forefinger and thumb to form a circle and hold the ball in your palm. As you release the ball, you keep the thumb and forefinger touching.., causing the ball to slide out of your hand and off your remaining three fingers. 2001 Arlington (Texas) Morning News (Electronic ed.) 20 Feb. He now relies on a low-90s four-seam fastball, a slow curveball and a circle-change. |
▪ II. circle, v.
(ˈsɜːk(ə)l)
Forms: 4–5 cercle(n, sercle(n, serkle, -yn, 6 circkle, 6– circle.
[f. the n.; or a. F. cercler. Cf. also circule v.]
1. trans. To surround or encompass with, or as with, a circle; to enclose in a circle; = encircle 1. (Now chiefly poet.)
| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus iii. 1717 That with his bond Love of his vertu liste To cerclen hertes alle and fast bynde. c 1400 Destr. Troy 3038 Hir ene..Serklyt with heris On the browes so bryght. a 1547 Surrey æneis iv. (R.), Whose heads forgrowen with pine, circled alway With misty cloudes. 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, iv. iv. 382 Th' Imperiall mettall, circling now thy head. 1667 Milton P.L. iii. 626 Of beaming sunnie Raies a golden tiar Circled his Head. 1814 Month. Mag. XXXVIII. 32, I..circled a rice meadow with dikes. 1859 Tennyson Geraint & Enid i. 547 The town Flow'd in, and settling circled all the lists. |
b. with about, around, in.
| c 1400 Rom. Rose 1619 So cerclith it the welle aboute. 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. iii. i. 277 You heauie people, circle me about. 1645 Digby Nat. Bodies (J.), To limit and circle them in. a 1667 Cowley To His Majesty, The Sea which circles us around. a 1850 Rossetti Dante & Circ. i. (1874) 104 Mine eyes..came at last to be circled about with red. |
† c. refl. Obs.
| 1634 W. Wood New Eng. Prosp. (1865) To Rdr., Diogenes..circled himselfe in the circumference of a tubbe. |
2. To make the circuit of, move round.
| 1583 Stanyhurst Aeneis iii. (Arb.) 84 It wyl be saulfer..far streicts crabbye to circle. 1626 Bacon (J.), The lords that were appointed to circle the hill. 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 65 Thrice the Equinoctial Line He circl'd. 1728 Pope Dunc. iii. 244 Other planets circle other suns. 1774 J. Bryant Mythol. I. 382 They circled the island seven times. 1848 Blackw. Mag. LXIV. 170 Stalking a ‘blesbok’ or circling a bustard—the latter process consisting in riding round the birds in large but decreasing circles. |
3. intr. To move in a circle (around, about, etc.).
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 453/2 Serklyn, or make a sercle, Circulo. 1580 Sidney Arcadia ii. (1622) 108 Shee [a hawk]..went circkling, and compassing about, rising so with the lesse sence of rising. 1643 Milton Divorce vi. (1851) 33 One of the highest arks that human contemplation circling upwards, can make. 1770 Goldsm. Des. Vill. 203 The busy whisper circling round Convey'd the dismal tidings when he frown'd. 1870 Proctor Other Worlds than Ours ii. 44 The orbs which circle around the sun. |
b. Said of wine, etc. passing round the table.
| 1725 Pope Odyss. ii. 282 While the bowl circles, and the banquet warms. 1814 Scott Ld. of Isles v. xxxiv, The mazers four..Thrice let them circle round the board. |
c. Mil. Of cavalry: To sweep round on a moving flank over a more or less wide circle; whereas the ‘wheeling’ of infantry is done on a fixed flank as pivot, and on as little ground as possible.
| 1715–20 Pope Iliad viii. 410 Guards as he turns, and circles as he wheels. 1796–7 Instr. & Reg. Cavalry (1813) 108 A close column must loosen its divisions before it can well march in front, and its changes of direction must be made circling, and on a moving flank. Ibid. 196 To move up rapidly, and circle round each other, and the enemy's flank. 1833 Regul. Instr. Cavalry i. 146 The..Files should..circle ‘Right’. |
4. intr. To form a circle; to stand or extend in a circle. rare.
| 1613–16 W. Browne Brit. Past. i. iii, A tuft of Trees grew circling in a ranke. 1808 J. Barlow Columb. iii. 335 Those plains, immensely circling, feel his beams. 1810 Scott Lady of L. v. xxiv, That proud ring Of peers who circled round the King. |
† b. refl. To extend in a circle. Obs.
| 1671 Grew Anat. Plants i. vii. §12 The main Branches in the outer Coat of a Kernel, circling themselves on both hands from the place of their first entrance. |