Definitions for circus
ˈsɜr kəscir·cus

Princeton's WordNet(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. circus(noun)

   a travelling company of entertainers; including trained animals

   "he ran away from home to join the circus"

2. circus(noun)

   a performance given by a traveling company of acrobats, clowns, and trained animals

   "the children always love to go to the circus"

3. circus, carnival(noun)

   a frenetic disorganized (and often comic) disturbance suggestive of a large public entertainment

   "it was so funny it was a circus"; "the whole occasion had a carnival atmosphere"

4. circus(noun)

   (antiquity) an open-air stadium for chariot races and gladiatorial games

5. circus(noun)

   an arena consisting of an oval or circular area enclosed by tiers of seats and usually covered by a tent

   "they used the elephants to help put up the circus"

6. Circus, genus Circus(noun)

   a genus of haws comprising the harriers

Wiktionary(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. circus(Noun)

   A traveling company of performers that may include acrobats, clowns, trained animals, and other novelty acts, that gives shows usually in a circular tent.

   The circus will be in town next week.

2. circus(Noun)

   A round open space in a town or city where multiple streets meet.

   Oxford Circus in London is at the north end of Regent Street.

3. circus(Noun)

   In the ancient Roman Empire, a building for chariot racing.

4. circus(Noun)

   A code name for bomber attacks with fighter escorts in the day time. The attacks were against short-range targets with the intention of occupying enemy fighters and keeping their fighter units in the area concerned.

5. circus(Noun)

   Circuit; space; enclosure.

   The narrow circus of my dungeon wall. uE000165148uE001 Byron.

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Circus(noun)

   a level oblong space surrounded on three sides by seats of wood, earth, or stone, rising in tiers one above another, and divided lengthwise through the middle by a barrier around which the track or course was laid out. It was used for chariot races, games, and public shows

   Etymology: [L. circus circle, ring, circus (in sense 1). See Circle, and cf. Cirque.]

2. Circus(noun)

   a circular inclosure for the exhibition of feats of horsemanship, acrobatic displays, etc. Also, the company of performers, with their equipage

   Etymology: [L. circus circle, ring, circus (in sense 1). See Circle, and cf. Cirque.]

3. Circus(noun)

   circuit; space; inclosure

   Etymology: [L. circus circle, ring, circus (in sense 1). See Circle, and cf. Cirque.]

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Circus

   A circus is commonly a travelling company of performers that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other stunt-oriented artists. The word also describes the performance that they give, which is usually a series of acts choreographed to music and introduced by a ringmaster. A traditional circus performance is normally held in a ring 13 m in diameter. This dimension was adopted by Philip Astley to enable a horse rider to stand upright on a cantering horse to perform a series of acrobatic maneuvers and to more easily retain their balance. Circuses often have a system of tiered seating around the ring for the public; since the late 19th to early 20th century, many circus performances have taken place under large tents commonly referred to as "The Big Top".

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Circus

   sėr′kus, n. a circular building for the exhibition of games: a place for the exhibition of feats of horsemanship: a group of houses arranged in the form of a circle: applied to nature, as, e.g., high hills surrounding a plain.—n. Cirque (sėrk), a circus: a ring of some sort. [L. circus; cog. with Gr. kirkos.]

Suggested Resources(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. circus

   Song lyrics by circus -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by circus on the Lyrics.com website.

How to pronounce circus?

1. 

   Alex

   US English

   

   Daniel

   British

   

   Karen

   Australian

   

   Veena

   Indian

How to say circus in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of circus in Chaldean Numerology is: 9

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of circus in Pythagorean Numerology is: 1

Examples of circus in a Sentence

1. Craig Robinson:

   When Donald Trump comes to town, we want him to bring the entire circus with him because we want to see it, it's important for Trump to make himself available to Iowans, but I don't think it's required of him to have to go to the 900 town hall meetings and make himself available that way.

2. Jerry Coleman:

   Jesus Alou is in the on-deck circus.

3. Alice Cooper:

   When I go to the circus and there’s a guy in a cage with 12 tigers, there’s always a chance that one of the tigers didn’t get the message, when you see a guy on a tight wire, you know that there may be a second you witness a tragedy. I always wanted that in our show: What they’re seeing could be the last night of Alice Cooper.

4. John Kasich:

   It's just one controversy over another, this is like every day. It's a circus.

5. Arthur Levine:

   They also built an air-conditioned circus tent where guests can wait, inside there is playground equipment and interactive games for kids. Guests get restaurant-style pagers that alert them when it’s time to board the ride.

Images & Illustrations of circus

Popularity rank by frequency of use