cycle

American  

[sahy-kuhl] / ˈsaɪ kəl /

noun

• cycles
  plural

1. any complete round or series of occurrences that repeats or is repeated.

2. 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.

3. any long period of years; age.

4. a bicycle, motorcycle, tricycle, etc.

5. a group of poems, dramas, prose narratives, songs etc., about a central theme, figure, or the like.

   the Arthurian cycle.

6. Physics.

   1. a sequence of changing states that, upon completion, produces a final state identical to the original one.

   2. one of a succession of periodically recurring events.

   3. a complete alteration in which a phenomenon attains a maximum and minimum value, returning to a final value equal to the original one.

7. Mathematics. a permutation of a set of elements that leaves the original cyclic order of the elements unchanged.

8. Computers.

   1. the smallest interval of time required to complete an operation in a computer.

   2. a series of computer operations repeated as a unit.

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verb (used without object)

• cycles,
  present (3rd person singular)
• cycled,
  past participle,  past
• cycling
  present participle

1. to ride or travel by bicycle, motorcycle, tricycle, etc.

2. to move or revolve in cycles; pass through cycles.

idioms

1. hit for the cycle, (of one player) to hit a single, double, triple, and home run in one game.

cycle British  

/ ˈsaɪkəl /

noun

1. a recurring period of time in which certain events or phenomena occur and reach completion or repeat themselves in a regular sequence

2. a completed series of events that follows or is followed by another series of similar events occurring in the same sequence

3. the time taken or needed for one such series

4. a vast period of time; age; aeon

5. a group of poems or prose narratives forming a continuous story about a central figure or event

   the Arthurian cycle

6. a series of miracle plays

   the Chester cycle

7. a group or sequence of songs See song cycle

8. short for bicycle tricycle motorcycle

9. astronomy the orbit of a celestial body

10. a recurrent series of events or processes in plants and animals

    a life cycle

    a growth cycle

    a metabolic cycle

11. 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

12. one of a series of repeated changes in the magnitude of a periodically varying quantity, such as current or voltage

13. computing

    1. a set of operations that can be both treated and repeated as a unit

    2. the time required to complete a set of operations

    3. one oscillation of the regular voltage waveform used to synchronize processes in a digital computer

14. (in generative grammar) the set of cyclic rules

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verb

1. (tr) to process through a cycle or system

2. (intr) to move in or pass through cycles

3. to travel by or ride a bicycle or tricycle

cycle Scientific  

/ sī′kəl /

1. A single complete execution of a periodically repeated phenomenon.

2. See also period

3. A circular or whorled arrangement of flower parts such as those of petals or stamens.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• cycling
  noun
• supercycle
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• cycles
  plural

Participles

• cycling
  present
• cycled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• cycle
  simple
• cycles
  simple
• have cycled
  perfect
• has cycled
  perfect
• am cycling
  progressive
• are cycling
  progressive
• is cycling
  progressive
• have been cycling
  perfect progressive
• has been cycling
  perfect progressive

Past

• cycled
  simple
• had cycled
  perfect
• was cycling
  progressive
• were cycling
  progressive
• had been cycling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will cycle
  simple
• will have cycled
  perfect
• will be cycling
  progressive
• will have been cycling
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of cycle

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English cicle, from Late Latin cyclus, from Greek kýklos “cycle, circle, wheel, ring, disk, orb”; see also wheel

Explanation

A cycle is a series of events that happen repeatedly in the same order. Or, it is a slang term for a bicycle. If you ride a cycle to work, we suggest putting your clothes through the wash cycle twice — or wear strong cologne. We get cycle from Latin cyclus and Greek kuklos, both meaning "circle." So you can see where bi- (two) and tri- (three) + cycle got their names. Nowadays, cycle can be a verb or a noun: You can ride a cycle or you can cycle to the park. The same holds true when you’re talking about a sequence of repeating events: The seasons cycle through spring, summer, fall, and winter. The plant life cycle goes from seed to flower to seed dispersal.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cycle cycles cycled cycling

The widespread popularity of Meta’s Muse AI agent could be just the beginning of a robust product cycle, analyst Benjamin Black wrote.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 1, 2026

This cycle, the race has drawn a lot less attention.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

O'Hagan's spoke on female strength and conditioning and the impact of the menstrual cycle on athletic performance, while McCool focused on breast and cervical cancer awareness.

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026

Markets weren’t fully anticipating how aggressive the Fed’s 2022 hiking cycle turned out to be.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026

When she began a new cycle, Coal breathed with her.

From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste

After a stroke, many patients also develop disrupted sleep-wake cycles.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 28, 2026

"This storm is expected to bring major coastal flooding to the Mid-Atlantic Coast over multiple high tide cycles through the weekend," the National Weather Service said in its latest forecast.

From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026

In past technological cycles, it’s made more sense for “market leadership” to transition from one sector to another as a trend unfolds, they added.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026

Manufacturers can partially mitigate the impact of longer product cycles by keeping prices high.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026

A few of the later plates even showed, for the first time, the life cycles of tropical frogs and toads, as well as lizards and snakes.

From "The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science" by Joyce Sidman

Since then, the Sparks have cycled through four head coaches while missing the postseason every season since 2020.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

It cycled through a range of staticky notes—the frequencies that would heal us.

From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026

There was no reply before he headed off but one minute after he cycled away, a reply landed in his Instagram account.

From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026

Head coach Raul Lara has cycled through three players in the position so far this season, and the standout against Corona Centennial on Friday was Paytyn Guess.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2026

Odile promised to ring Pop to see if lessons could be arranged, and I cycled back to college with the hope that soon my stomach pains would have reason to vanish.

From "Double Helix" by James D. Watson

He not only survived, but returned to dominate top-level cycling.

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

With most powertrains, the intermittency of stop-start cycling is no great loss—it’s not like I’m missing the sweaty chatter of the average turbo four.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026

These organisms play an important role in nutrient cycling on Earth and can help plants, soils, and other organisms gain access to essential resources.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 26, 2026

“Long Beach’s cycling network is reaching critical mass,” Van Dyk said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

“I saw a ghost moving near that banyan tree yesterday evening, when I was cycling by.”

From "The Bridge Home" by Padma Venkatraman

Related Words

• course
• period
• revolution
• rhythm
• round
• series