n. (Elec.) A key or other device for breaking an electrical circuit. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To travel around. [ Obs. ] “Having circuited the air.” T. Warton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. circuit, fr. L. circuitus, fr. circuire or circumire to go around; circum around + ire to go. ] 1. The act of moving or revolving around, or as in a circle or orbit; a revolution; as, the periodical circuit of the earth round the sun. Watts. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The circumference of, or distance round, any space; the measure of a line round an area. [ 1913 Webster ]

The circuit or compass of Ireland is 1, 800 miles. J. Stow. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. That which encircles anything, as a ring or crown. [ 1913 Webster ]

The golden circuit on my head. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. The space inclosed within a circle, or within limits. [ 1913 Webster ]

A circuit wide inclosed with goodliest trees. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A regular or appointed journeying from place to place in the exercise of one's calling, as of a judge, or a preacher. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (a) (Law) A certain division of a state or country, established by law for a judge or judges to visit, for the administration of justice. Bouvier. (b) (Methodist Church) A district in which an itinerant preacher labors. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. Circumlocution. [ Obs. ] “Thou hast used no circuit of words.” Huloet. [ 1913 Webster ]

Circuit court (Law), a court which sits successively in different places in its circuit (see Circuit, 6). In the United States, the federal circuit courts are commonly presided over by a judge of the supreme court, or a special circuit judge, together with the judge of the district court. They have jurisdiction within statutory limits, both in law and equity, in matters of federal cognizance. Some of the individual States also have circuit courts, which have general statutory jurisdiction of the same class, in matters of State cognizance. --
Circuit of action or
Circuity of action (Law), a longer course of proceedings than is necessary to attain the object in view. --
To make a circuit, to go around; to go a roundabout way. --
Voltaic circle or
Galvanic circle or
Voltaic circuit or
Galvanic circuit, a continous electrical communication between the two poles of a battery; an arrangement of voltaic elements or couples with proper conductors, by which a continuous current of electricity is established. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To move in a circle; to go round; to circulate. [ Obs. ] J. Philips. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Elec.) A device contained within an electrical circuit designed to interrupt the circuit when the current exceeds a preset value; it is sometimes called a contact breaker. Its function is to prevent fire or damage to the circuit or the devices on the circuit which could be caused by excess current, such as that caused by a short-circuit. It differs from a fuse in not having a conducting element which melts (see 2nd fuse, n.). Circuit breakers are designed to be easily reset, i. e. to reclose the circuit after it has been opened by the circuit breaker; this is usually accomplished by simply moving a switch back and forth. They are commonly used in buildings to protect individual electrical lines, and are often contained in groups within a box called a circuit breaker panel, which divides the current from a main electrical line into multiple circuits each protected by a separate circuit breaker. Less commonly they may be found on individual devices. [ PJC ]

n. A circuiter. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who travels a circuit, as a circuit judge. [ R. ] R. Whitlock. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. circuitio. See Circuit. ] The act of going round; circumlocution. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ LL. circuitosus. ] Going round in a circuit; roundabout; indirect; as, a circuitous road; a circuitous manner of accomplishing an end. -- Cir*cu"i*tous*ly, adv. -- Cir*cu"i*tous*ness, n.

Syn. -- Tortuous; winding; sinuous; serpentine. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A going round in a circle; a course not direct; a roundabout way of proceeding. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. That may be circulated. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. circularis, fr. circulus circle: cf. F. circulaire. See Circle. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. In the form of, or bounded by, a circle; round. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. repeating itself; ending in itself; reverting to the point of beginning; hence, illogical; inconclusive; as, circular reasoning. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Adhering to a fixed circle of legends; cyclic; hence, mean; inferior. See Cyclic poets, under Cyclic. [ 1913 Webster ]

Had Virgil been a circular poet, and closely adhered to history, how could the Romans have had Dido? Dennis. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Addressed to a circle, or to a number of persons having a common interest; circulated, or intended for circulation; as, a circular letter. [ 1913 Webster ]

A proclamation of Henry III., . . . doubtless circular throughout England. Hallam. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Perfect; complete. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

A man so absolute and circular
In all those wished-for rarities that may take
A virgin captive. Massinger. [ 1913 Webster ]

Circular are, any portion of the circumference of a circle. --
Circular cubics (Math.), curves of the third order which are imagined to pass through the two circular points at infinity. --
Circular functions. (Math.) See under Function. --
Circular instruments, mathematical instruments employed for measuring angles, in which the graduation extends round the whole circumference of a circle, or 360°. --
Circular lines, straight lines pertaining to the circle, as sines, tangents, secants, etc. --
Circular note
or Circular letter. (a) (Com.) See under Credit. (b) (Diplomacy) A letter addressed in identical terms to a number of persons. --
Circular numbers (Arith.), those whose powers terminate in the same digits as the roots themselves; as 5 and 6, whose squares are 25 and 36. Bailey. Barlow. --
Circular points at infinity (Geom.), two imaginary points at infinite distance through which every circle in the plane is, in the theory of curves, imagined to pass. --
Circular polarization. (Min.) See under Polarization. --
Circular sailing or
Globular sailing (Naut.), the method of sailing by the arc of a great circle. --
Circular saw. See under Saw. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. (for sense 1) F. circulaire, lettre circulaire. See Circular, a. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A circular letter, or paper, usually printed, copies of which are addressed or given to various persons; as, a business circular. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A sleeveless cloak, cut in circular form. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL. circularitas. ] The quality or state of being circular; a circular form. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. knit on a circular form so as to have no seams; -- said of stockings. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adv. In a circular manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Circular; illogical. [ Obs. & . ] “Cross and circulary speeches.” Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Circulated; p. pr. & vb. n. Circulating. ] [ L. circulatus, p. p. of circulare, v. t., to surround, make round, circulari, v. i., to gather into a circle. See Circle. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To move in a circle or circuitously; to move round and return to the same point; as, the blood circulates in the body. Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To pass from place to place, from person to person, or from hand to hand; to be diffused; as, money circulates; a story circulates. [ 1913 Webster ]

Circulating decimal. See Decimal. --
Circulating library, a library whose books are loaned to the public, usually at certain fixed rates. --
Circulating medium. See Medium. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To cause to pass from place to place, or from person to person; to spread; as, to circulate a report; to circulate bills of credit. [ 1913 Webster ]

Circulating pump. See under Pump.

Syn. -- To spread; diffuse; propagate; disseminate. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. moving or flowing in a circuit and returning to the same point; as, steam circulating through the pipes; the circulating thyroid hormones. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. passing from one to another. [ prenominal ] [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ L. circulatio: cf. F. circulation. ] 1. The act of moving in a circle, or in a course which brings the moving body to the place where its motion began. [ 1913 Webster ]

This continual circulation of human things. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The act of passing from place to place or person to person; free diffusion; transmission. [ 1913 Webster ]

The true doctrines of astronomy appear to have had some popular circulation. Whewell. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Currency; circulating coin; notes, bills, etc., current for coin. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. The extent to which anything circulates or is circulated; the measure of diffusion; as, the circulation of a newspaper. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Physiol.) The movement of the blood in the blood-vascular system, by which it is brought into close relations with almost every living elementary constituent. Also, the movement of the sap in the vessels and tissues of plants. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Promoting circulation; circulating. [ R. ] Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. L. circulator a peddler. ] One who, or that which, circulates. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Travelling from house to house or from town to town; itinerant. [ Obs. ] “Circulatorious jugglers.” Barrow. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. circulatorius pert. to a mountebank: cf. F. circulatoire. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Circular; as, a circulatory letter. Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Circulating, or going round. T. Warton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Anat.) Subserving the purposes of circulation; as, circulatory organs; of or pertaining to the organs of circulation; as, circulatory diseases. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A chemical vessel consisting of two portions unequally exposed to the heat of the fire, and with connecting pipes or passages, through which the fluid rises from the overheated portion, and descends from the relatively colder, maintaining a circulation. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A circlet. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Proceeding in a circle; circular. [ Obs. ] “With motion circuline”. Dr. H. More. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ Akin to circle, circus. ] A Latin preposition, used as a prefix in many English words, and signifying around or about. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Pref. circum + agitate. ] To agitate on all sides. Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Pref. circum- + ambage, obs. sing. of ambages. ] A roundabout or indirect course; indirectness. [ Obs. ] S. Richardson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of surrounding or encompassing. Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. circum- + ambient. ] Surrounding; inclosing or being on all sides; encompassing. “The circumambient heaven.” J. Armstrong. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ L. circumambulatus, p. p. of circumambulare to walk around; circum + ambulare. See Ambulate. ] To walk round about. -- Cir`cum*am`bu*la"tion n. [1913 Webster]

n. A roundabout or indirect way. [ Jocular ] Goldsmith. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Geom.) The center of a circle that circumscribes a triangle. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Circumcised p. pr. & vb. n. Circumcising. ] [ L. circumcisus, p. p. of circumcidere to cut around, to circumcise; circum + caedere to cut; akin to E. cæsura, homicide, concise, and prob. to shed, v. t. ] 1. To cut off the prepuce of foreskin of, in the case of males, and the internal labia of, in the case of females. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Script.) To purify spiritually. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who performs circumcision. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. circumcisio. ] 1. The act of cutting off the prepuce or foreskin of males, or the internal labia of females. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The circumcision of males is practiced as a religious rite by the Jews, Muslims, etc. Circumcision of male infants is also a common practice as a hygienic measure, to reduce incidence of infection of the penis. [ 1913 Webster + PJC ]

2. (Script.) (a) The Jews, as a circumcised people. (b) Rejection of the sins of the flesh; spiritual purification, and acceptance of the Christian faith. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. circumcludere, -clusum, to inclose. ] Act of inclosing on all sides. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. circumcursare, -satum, to run round about. ] The act of running about; also, rambling language. [ Obs. ] Barrow. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Pref. circum- + denudation. ] (Geol.) Denudation around or in the neighborhood of an object. [ 1913 Webster ]

Hills of circumdenudation, hills which have been produced by surface erosion; the elevations which have been left, after denudation of a mass of high ground. Jukes. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ See Circumduct. ] (Scots Law) To declare elapsed, as the time allowed for introducing evidence. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ L. circumductus, p. p. of circumducere to lead around; circum + ducere to lead. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To lead about; to lead astray. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Law) To contravene; to nullify; as, to circumduct acts of judicature. [ Obs. ] Ayliffe. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. circumductio. ] 1. A leading about; circumlocution. [ R. ] Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An annulling; cancellation. [ R. ] Ayliffe. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Physiol.) The rotation of a limb round an imaginary axis, so as to describe a conical surface. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. circum- + esophagal. ] (Anat.) Surrounding the esophagus; -- in (Zool.) said of the nerve commissures and ganglia of arthropods and mollusks. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Anat.) Circumesophagal. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ L. circumferre; circum- + ferre to bear. See 1st Bear. ] To bear or carry round. [ Obs. ] Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To include in a circular space; to bound. [ Obs. ] Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. circumferentia. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. The line that goes round or encompasses a circular figure; a periphery. Millon. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A circle; anything circular. [ 1913 Webster ]

His ponderous shield . . .
Behind him cast. The broad circumference
Hung on his shoulders like the moon. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The external surface of a sphere, or of any orbicular body. [ 1913 Webster ]