circuit

1 an electrical device that provides a path for electrical current to flow [syn: electrical circuit, electric circuit]

2 a journey or route all the way around a particular place or area; "they took an extended tour of Europe"; "we took a quick circuit of the park"; "a ten-day coach circuit of the island" [syn: tour]

3 an established itinerary of venues or events that a particular group of people travel to; "she's a familiar name on the club circuit"; "on the lecture circuit"; "the judge makes a circuit of the courts in his district"; "the international tennis circuit"

4 (law) a judicial division of a state or the United States (so-called because originally judges traveled and held court in different locations); one of the twelve groups of states in the United States that is covered by a particular circuit court of appeals

5 a racetrack for automobile races [syn: racing circuit]

6 movement once around a course; "he drove an extra lap just for insurance" [syn: lap, circle] v : make a circuit; "They were circuiting about the state"

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɜː(r)kɪt

Noun

1. The act of moving or revolving around, or as in a circle or orbit; a revolution; as, the periodical circuit of the earth around the sun.
2. The circumference of, or distance around, any space; the measure of a line around an area.

   The circuit or compass of Ireland is 1,800 miles. J. Stow.

3. That which encircles anything, as a ring or crown.

   Quotations

   • 1590, And this fell tempest shall not cease to rage Until the golden circuit on my head, Like to the glorious sun's transparent beams, Do calm the fury of this mad-bred flaw. — William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part II, Act III, Scene I, line 351.

4. The space enclosed within a circle, or within limits.

   Quotations

   • 1592, "Fondling," she saith, "since I have hemm'd thee here Within the circuit of this ivory pale, I'll be a park, and thou shalt be my deer: Feed where thou wilt, on mountain, or in dale; Graze on my lips; and if those hills be dry, Stray lower, where the pleasant fountains lie. — William Shakespeare, Venus and Adonis, Stanza 39, line 229.
   • A circuit wide enclosed with goodliest trees.

5. A regular or appointed journeying from place to place in the exercise of one's calling, as of a judge, or a preacher.
6. A certain division of a state or country, established by law for a judge or judges to visit, for the administration of justice.
7. (Methodist Church) A district in which an itinerant preacher labors.
8. By analogy to the proceeding three, a set of theaters among which the same acts circulate; especially common in the heyday of vaudeville.
9. Circumlocution.

Related terms

• circuitous
• circuit board
• circuit breaker
• circuit court
• Galvanic circuit
• integrated circuit
• printed circuit
• short circuit
• Voltaic circuit

Verb

1. In the context of "intransitive|obsolete": To move in a circle; to go round; to circulate.
2. To travel around.

   Having circuited the air.

Circuit may mean:

• Circuit (Band)
• Circuit (airfield)
• Circuit court
• Circuit (film)
• Circuit (film character)
• Circuit (theater), a group of theaters among which the same acts circulate, especially in vaudeville
• Circuit (LCMS), local grouping of congregations in the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod
• Circuit party, a gay dance event
• Circuit (subnational entity)
• Circuit (graph theory)
• Circuit complexity, studied in Computational Complexity
• Electrical circuit
  • Digital circuit
  • Electronic circuit
  • Integrated circuit
    • Asynchronous circuit
    • Synchronous circuit
  • Printed circuit board (PCB)
  • Series and parallel circuits
  • Telecommunication circuit
  • Circuit diagram
  • Balanced circuit
• Formula One circuits
• Hydraulic circuit
• Kart circuits
• Neuronal circuit
• Pneumatic circuit
• Race track
• The Circuit, an Australian TV show
• The Circuit, poker radio show
• Matroid circuit, a mathematical object

See also

The Circuit

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