cirque

[ surk ]

/ sɜrk /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR cirque ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

circle; ring.

a bowl-shaped, steep-walled mountain basin carved by glaciation, often containing a small, round lake.

Nearby words

cire perdue, cirebon, cirenaica, cirencester, cirio, cirque, cirrate, cirrhogenous, cirrhosis, cirrhus, cirri

Origin of cirque

1595–1605; < French < Latin circus; see circus

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for cirque

But no matter where her career has taken her, or how big the Cirque has become, Vial keeps coming back.
A Backstage Love Affair With Cirque du Soleil|Allison McNearney|December 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Twenty-eight years ago, Veronique Vial was asked to photograph Cirque du Soleil.
A Backstage Love Affair With Cirque du Soleil|Allison McNearney|December 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
When Vial got that first assignment, she was just beginning her photography career, and Cirque du Soleil was only a few years old.
A Backstage Love Affair With Cirque du Soleil|Allison McNearney|December 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The pride and admiration Vial has for the artists who put on Cirque du Soleil is evident.
A Backstage Love Affair With Cirque du Soleil|Allison McNearney|December 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Cirque du Soleil obviously sprang to startling success with a variety of shows since its 1987 founding.
We’re All Carnies Now: Why We Can’t Quit the Circus|Anthony Paletta|November 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
No wonder the Cirque Rocambeau had come to grief, if it depended on such canaries as Lackaday.
The Mountebank|William J. Locke
They did things in the great manner in the Cirque Rocambeau.
The Mountebank|William J. Locke
The Cirque Rocambeau had gone round without perceiving that the world had gone round too.
The Mountebank|William J. Locke
Most of its mass is derived directly from the low hanging snow clouds, or is blown into the cirque by eddying winds.
Mount Rainier|Various
The famous Cirque des Baumes may be described as a double wall lined with gigantic caves and grottoes.
The Roof of France|Matilda Betham-Edwards

British Dictionary definitions for cirque

cirque

/ (sɜːk) /

noun

Also called: corrie, cwm a semicircular or crescent-shaped basin with steep sides and a gently sloping floor formed in mountainous regions by the erosive action of a glacier

archaeol an obsolete term for circle (def. 11)

poetic a circle, circlet, or ring

Word Origin for cirque

C17: from French, from Latin circus ring, circle, circus

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

Science definitions for cirque

cirque

[ sûrk ]

A steep, amphitheatre-shaped hollow occurring at the upper end of a mountain valley, especially one forming the head of a glacier or stream. Cirques are formed by the erosive activity of glaciers and often contain a small lake.