<B>circular file,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S. Slang.) a wastepaper basket. <BR> <I>Ex. A petition to amend the tax law was sent to Governor Carey's office in April but Mr. Bourke said "it probably went into the circular file somewhere" (New York Times).</I> </DL>
<B>circularity, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ties.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> circular shape. </DL>
<A NAME="circularize">
<B>circularize, </B>transitive verb, <B>-ized,</B> <B>-izing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to send circulars to. <BR> <I>Ex. Minister of Health at the time of the last election, [he] circularized all hospitals about the absent voters arrangements (London Times).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to make circular or round. noun <B>circularization.</B> noun <B>circularizer.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="circularletter">
<B>circular letter,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a form letter, sent to each of a number of people. </DL>
<A NAME="circularmeasure">
<B>circular measure,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a system of measure used for angles or their corresponding arcs in a circle; angular measure: <DL COMPACT><DD> 60 seconds = 1 minute <DL COMPACT><DD> 60 minutes = 1 degree <DL COMPACT><DD> 90 degrees = 1 quadrant <DL COMPACT><DD> 4 quadrants or 360 degrees = 1 circle </DL>
</DL>
<A NAME="circularmil">
<B>circular mil,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a unit for expressing the area of cross sections of wires, rods, and the like, equivalent to the area of a circle one mil in diameter or 0.000000785 square inch. (Abbr:) c.m. </DL>
<A NAME="circularnumber">
<B>circular number,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Mathematics.) a number whose powers are expressed by numbers, the last digit in each being the number itself. (Example:) 5 and 6 are circular numbers because 5 squared = 25, 6 squared = 36, 5 cubed = 125, 6 cubed = 216, and so on. </DL>
<A NAME="circularsailing">
<B>circular sailing,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> sailing along the arc of a great circle. </DL>
<A NAME="circularsaw">
<B>circular saw,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a thin disk with teeth in its edge, turned at high speed by machinery. </DL>
<A NAME="circulartriangle">
<B>circular triangle,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a triangle formed by three intersecting circular arcs. </DL>
<A NAME="circularvelocity">
<B>circular velocity,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the velocity a body must achieve to remain in orbit around another body; orbital velocity. </DL>
<A NAME="circulate">
<B>circulate, </B>verb, <B>-lated,</B> <B>-lating.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to go around; pass from place to place or person to person. <BR> <I>Ex. Water circulates in the pipes of a building. Money circulates as it goes from person to person. The host and hostess circulated at the party, greeting their guests.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to pass into the hands of readers; be distributed. <BR> <I>Ex. A newspaper circulates among the people who read it.</I> <DD><B> 3a. </B>(of the blood) to flow from the heart through the arteries and veins back to the heart again. <DD><B> b. </B>(of the lymph) to flow between human tissues and cells. <DD><B> c. </B>(of other fluids in lower animals and in plants) to flow with a continuous motion. <DD><B> 4. </B>(Mathematics.) (of a decimal) to include a figure or series of figures which is repeated indefinitely. (Example:) 1 / 11 = .090909. <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to send around from person to person or place to place. <BR> <I>Ex. The foreman circulated the news of a factory shut-down.</I> (SYN) disseminate, spread. <DD><B> 2. </B>to put into the hands of readers; distribute. <BR> <I>Ex. This book has been widely circulated among boys interested in scouting.</I> noun <B>circulator.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="circulatingcapital">
<B>circulating capital,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> capital which is constantly changing hands or passing from one form into another, such as from goods into money; floating capital. </DL>
<A NAME="circulatingdecimal">
<B>circulating decimal,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a decimal in which a figure or series of figures is repeated indefinitely; repeating decimal; recurring decimal. (Examples:) 1 / 3 = .3333 ..., 1 / 7 = .142857142857 ... </DL>
<A NAME="circulatinglibrary">
<B>circulating library,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a library whose books can be rented or borrowed. </DL>
<A NAME="circulatingmedium">
<B>circulating medium,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a medium of exchange; currency. </DL>
<A NAME="circulation">
<B>circulation, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a going around; circulating. <BR> <I>Ex. Open windows increase the circulation of air in a room.</I> <DD><B> 2a. </B>the flow of the blood from the heart through the arteries and veins and back to the heart. <BR> <I>Ex. The circulation in his arm was cut off with a tourniquet.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>the movement of lymph between human tissues and cells. <DD><B> c. </B>the similar circuit of other fluids in lower animals and in plants. <DD><B> 3. </B>a sending around, as of books and news from person to person or place to place. <BR> <I>Ex. Circulation of gossip is vicious.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>the number of copies of a book, newspaper, or magazine. <BR> <I>Ex. That newspaper has a circulation of 500,000.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>a medium of exchange; currency. </DL>
<A NAME="circulative">
<B>circulative, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> tending to circulate or cause circulation. </DL>
<A NAME="circulatory">
<B>circulatory, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having to do with circulation. Arteries and veins are part of the circulatory system of the human body. </DL>
<A NAME="circulusindefiniendo">
<B>circulus in definiendo,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Latin.) <DD><B> 1. </B>a circle in defining. <DD><B> 2. </B>a faulty form of definition in which the word or concept to be defined is used to explain the meaning. </DL>
<A NAME="circum">
<B>circum-,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (prefix.) around; on all sides; in a circle. <BR> <I>Ex. Circumambulate = to walk around. Circumspect = watchful on all sides.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="circumambience">
<B>circumambience, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the act or fact of encircling or surrounding. </DL>
<B>circumambient, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>surrounding; encompassing; encircling. <BR> <I>Ex. Her journal ... bears on every page of it the traces of the Baroness and her circumambient influence (Lytton Strachey).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>round about; circuitous. <BR> <I>Ex. circumambient criticism.</I> adv. <B>circumambiently.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="circumambulate">
<B>circumambulate, </B>transitive verb, intransitive verb, <B>-lated,</B> <B>-lating.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to walk or go about. <BR> <I>Ex. If she had had a little less pride she might have gone and circumambulated the Yeobrights' premises ... until she had seen him (Thomas Hardy).</I> noun <B>circumambulator.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="circumambulation">
<B>circumambulation, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a walking around or about. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) an indirect process; a beating about the bush. </DL>
<A NAME="circumambulatory">
<B>circumambulatory, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with circumambulation; roundabout. </DL>
<A NAME="circumaviate">
<B>circumaviate, </B>transitive verb, <B>-ated,</B> <B>-ating.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to fly an aircraft around (something). </DL>
<A NAME="circumbendibus">
<B>circumbendibus, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a roundabout process or method; twist; turn; circumlocution. </DL>
<A NAME="circumcenter">
<B>circumcenter, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the center of a circle that is circumscribed around another figure. The circumcenter of a triangle is the center of the circle circumscribed about it. </DL>
<A NAME="circumcise">
<B>circumcise, </B>transitive verb, <B>-cised,</B> <B>-cising.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to cut off the foreskin of (a male) or the nymphae of (a female), especially for hygienic purposes or as a religious or initiatory rite, as among the Jews, Moslems, and some African and Australian peoples. See also <B>circumcision.</B> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) to cleanse of sin (in the Bible, Jeremiah 4:4). noun <B>circumciser.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="circumcision">
<B>circumcision, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1a. </B>the act of circumcising. <DD><B> b. </B>the rite of circumcising. In the Jewish ritual, a boy is circumcised when he is eight days old as a symbol of the covenant which, according to the Bible, God made with Abraham. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) spiritual purification (in the Bible, Romans 2:29). <BR><I>expr. <B>the circumcision,</B> </I>in the Bible: <DD><B> a. </B>the Jews; the Hebrew nation. <BR> <I>Ex. And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him (Acts 11:2).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>the chosen of God; the spiritually pure. <BR> <I>Ex. For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit (Philippians 3:3).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>the Circumcision,</B> </I>a Christian church festival on January 1, commemorating the circumcising of Jesus as prescribed by Jewish law, on the eighth day after his birth. <BR> <I>Ex. In our own day the secular features of the opening of the New Year interfere with the observance of the Circumcision (John J. Tierney).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="circumference">
<B>circumference, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the boundary line of a circle or of certain other surfaces. Every point on the circumference of a circle is at the same distance from the center. The circumference of a sphere is that of a great circle of the sphere. (SYN) perimeter. <DD><B> 2. </B>the distance around. <BR> <I>Ex. The circumference of the earth is almost 25,000 miles at the equator.</I> (SYN) girth. </DL>
