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cycle
[ sahy-kuhl ]
noun
- 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.
verb (used without object)
- to move or revolve in cycles; pass through cycles.
cycle
/ ˈɪə /
noun
- 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
- astronomy the orbit of a celestial body
- a recurrent series of events or processes in plants and animals
a growth cycle
a life 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
verb
- 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
cycle
- 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.
Derived Forms
- ˈ⳦Բ, nounadjective
Other Word Forms
- p·c noun
Word History and Origins
Word History and Origins
Origin of cycle1
Idioms and Phrases
- hit for the cycle, Baseball. (of one player) to hit a single, double, triple, and home run in one game.
Example Sentences
“If you're, let's say, in a deflationary cycle, it works beautifully,” she said.
“The moon, my subject, does remind us that there are cycles,” she said while accepting the prize.
It’s a complex feedback cycle, which bias might influence species’ value at each link in the chain and their connections.
That, along with the YouTube Partner Program, “really ended up creating that full cycle that allowed the economy to thrive and YouTube to grow,” Hanif said.
But, he continued, the matter of how long to sign for was complicated by the cycle of broadcasting rights for matches.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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