cycle
any complete round or series of occurrences that repeats or is repeated.
a round of years or a recurring period of time, especially one in which certain events or phenomena repeat themselves in the same order and at the same intervals.
any long period of years; age.
a bicycle, motorcycle, tricycle, etc.
a group of poems, dramas, prose narratives, songs etc., about a central theme, figure, or the like: the Arthurian cycle.
Physics.
a sequence of changing states that, upon completion, produces a final state identical to the original one.
one of a succession of periodically recurring events.
a complete alteration in which a phenomenon attains a maximum and minimum value, returning to a final value equal to the original one.
Mathematics. a permutation of a set of elements that leaves the original cyclic order of the elements unchanged.
Computers.
the smallest interval of time required to complete an operation in a computer.
a series of computer operations repeated as a unit.
to ride or travel by bicycle, motorcycle, tricycle, etc.
to move or revolve in cycles; pass through cycles.
Idioms about cycle
hit for the cycle, Baseball. (of one player) to hit a single, double, triple, and home run in one game.
Origin of cycle
1Other words from cycle
- su·per·cy·cle, noun
Words Nearby cycle
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use cycle in a sentence
For years, brands and agencies were caught in a self-defeating cycle, where agencies didn’t pitch gaming ideas to brands because they assumed brands didn’t know what to do with them.
Why new agencies are trying to capitalize on the online gaming boom | jim cooper | February 12, 2021 | DigidayOftentimes, you can soak your clothing, linen, or other fabrics in a pre-soak cycle, wash, and then enjoy the fresh-scented and stain-free result.
Pet Stain & Odor Removers That Get The Job Done | PopSci Commerce Team | February 9, 2021 | Popular-ScienceThis is just the latest flashpoint in a cycle of delayed elections, public frustration and fraying political legitimacy in the impoverished Caribbean nation.
Our bodies groove to the familiar rhythms of heartbeats and breaths — persistent cycles essential to survival.
Brain’s ‘Background Noise’ May Hold Clues to Persistent Mysteries | Elizabeth Landau | February 8, 2021 | Quanta MagazineThis cycle of defensiveness and shame can make it harder to parent in that moment.
Remote school is stressing parents out. Here’s how to tame the anxiety. | Devorah Heitner | February 8, 2021 | Washington Post
It almost mirrors the Buddhist cycle of life, death, and rebirth.
The Buddhist Business of Poaching Animals for Good Karma | Brendon Hong | December 28, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTEventually, the mistletoe bush grows, blooms, and forms berries, and the cycle begins anew.
The Newsroom aired its final episode on Sunday, already an eternity ago in news-cycle terms.
A Few Great Men Too Many: Aaron Sorkin Doesn’t Think You Can Handle the Truth | Arthur Chu | December 21, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTTo break her self-destructive cycle and heal, she decides to hike 1,100 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail solo.
Exclusive: The Making of Reese Witherspoon’s Golden Globe-Nominated ‘Wild’ | Marlow Stern | December 12, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTEspecially given that we just spent almost $4 billion during the 2013-14 election cycle?
The sexual cycle can take place only within the body of one genus of mosquito, anopheles.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis | James Campbell ToddHere they enter red corpuscles as young malarial parasites, and the majority pass through the asexual cycle just described.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis | James Campbell ToddStill hanging to Clip's canteen, he jerked the motor-cycle away from the bushes, got into the saddle, and started the pedals.
Motor Matt's "Century" Run | Stanley R. MatthewsMatt went down, with the motor-cycle on top of him, head and shoulders over the brink of the precipice.
Motor Matt's "Century" Run | Stanley R. MatthewsMatt had come to a quick stop, disengaging his right foot from the toe-clip and bracing the motor-cycle upright.
Motor Matt's "Century" Run | Stanley R. Matthews
British Dictionary definitions for cycle
/ (ˈsaɪkəl) /
a recurring period of time in which certain events or phenomena occur and reach completion or repeat themselves in a regular sequence
a completed series of events that follows or is followed by another series of similar events occurring in the same sequence
the time taken or needed for one such series
a vast period of time; age; aeon
a group of poems or prose narratives forming a continuous story about a central figure or event: the Arthurian cycle
a series of miracle plays: the Chester cycle
a group or sequence of songs: See song cycle
short for bicycle, tricycle, motorcycle
astronomy the orbit of a celestial body
a recurrent series of events or processes in plants and animals: a life cycle; a growth cycle; a metabolic cycle
physics a continuous change or a sequence of changes in the state of a system that leads to the restoration of the system to its original state after a finite period of time
one of a series of repeated changes in the magnitude of a periodically varying quantity, such as current or voltage
computing
a set of operations that can be both treated and repeated as a unit
the time required to complete a set of operations
one oscillation of the regular voltage waveform used to synchronize processes in a digital computer
(in generative grammar) the set of cyclic rules
(tr) to process through a cycle or system
(intr) to move in or pass through cycles
to travel by or ride a bicycle or tricycle
Origin of cycle
1Derived forms of cycle
- cycling, noun, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for cycle
[ sī′kəl ]
A single complete execution of a periodically repeated phenomenon. See also period.
A circular or whorled arrangement of flower parts such as those of petals or stamens.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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