Circus
['sɜːkəs] or ['sɝkəs]
Definition
(noun.) a performance given by a traveling company of acrobats, clowns, and trained animals; 'the children always love to go to the circus'.
(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'.
(noun.) a genus of haws comprising the harriers.
(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'.
(noun.) (antiquity) an open-air stadium for chariot races and gladiatorial games.
(noun.) a travelling company of entertainers; including trained animals; 'he ran away from home to join the circus'.
Checker: Melva--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) 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.
(n.) A circular inclosure for the exhibition of feats of horsemanship, acrobatic displays, etc. Also, the company of performers, with their equipage.
(n.) Circuit; space; inclosure.
Checked by Bertrand
Definition
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.
Editor: Maureen
Unserious Contents or Definition
n. A place where horses ponies and elephants are permitted to see men women and children acting the fool.
Edited by Hattie
Examples
- We were peeping at the circus,' muttered Louisa, haughtily, without lifting up her eyes, 'and father caught us. Charles Dickens. Hard Times.
- You know I'm not the kind to sit in a crowd and jaw--I'd always rather clear out when that sort of circus is going on. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- I have seen photographs and also I have seen them in the Circus of Price. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- Ashore, it was--well, it was an eternal circus. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- I have never seen a Negro except in a circus. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- It fits like a circus tent, and a woman's head is hidden away in it like the man's who prompts the singers from his tin shed in the stage of an opera. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- You know, as well as I do, no young people have circus masters, or keep circuses in cabinets, or attend lectures about circuses. Charles Dickens. Hard Times.
- Then a little later I saw another--I think it was one of Brush’s make--and the whole outfit, engine, dynamo, and one or two lamps, was traveling around the country with a circus. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- Five minutes later we were in the street, walking towards Regent's Circus. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.
- He hurried at his top speed down Baker Street and along Oxford Street, until we had almost reached Regent Circus. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- When the circus commenced, the gang that was standing around ran out precipitately, and I guess some of them kept running for a block or two. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- This done, they walked about, waiting for the Circus to be quite vacated; not only by the audience, but by the company and by the horses. Charles Dickens. Hard Times.
- An impromptu circus, fox and geese, and an amicable game of croquet finished the afternoon. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- The first thing they saw on entering the town was the skeleton of Sleary's Circus. Charles Dickens. Hard Times.
- I thought of father's old circus. Charles Dickens. Hard Times.
- What can you possibly want to know of circuses then? Charles Dickens. Hard Times.
- Of all the circuses since Adam was born, we had the worst then! Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- You know, as well as I do, no young people have circus masters, or keep circuses in cabinets, or attend lectures about circuses. Charles Dickens. Hard Times.
- Those who to-day bear the brunt of our evils dare not throw themselves upon the mercy of their masters, not though there are bread and circuses as a reward. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
Typist: Rosa