
circle | circle: n. 1 disc or chiefly US disk, ring, hoop, loop, band, wheel, annulus, ringlet; cordon: Using a compass, he carefully drew a circle. We formed a circle around the speaker. 2 set, coterie, clique, class, division, group, crowd; society, fellowship, fraternity, company: John and I don''t move in the same circles. --v. 3 encircle, circumambulate, go round or around, tour; circumnavigate: For exercise, I circle the lake in the park every morning. 4 encircle, surround, gird, enclose, circumscribe: Twenty small diamonds circle each star sapphire.
circuit | circuit: n. 1 compass, circumference, perimeter, periphery, girth, border, boundary, edge, limit, ambit, margin, outline, confine(s), bound, pale: The circuit of the area amounts to 72 miles. 2 round, tour, ambit, circle, orbit, course, lap: The rider completed the circuit of the ranch, mending the fence as he went.
circular | circular: adj. 1 round, disc-shaped or chiefly US disk-shaped, disc-like or chiefly US disk-like, discoid; ring-shaped, ring-like, annular: Notice the circular pattern of growth of this ivy. 2 roundabout, indirect, circuitous, tortuous, twisting, twisted, anfractuous; periphrastic, circumlocutory; devious: We had to take a circular route because the road was closed. Why can''t she say what she means instead of being so circular? 3 illogical, inconsistent, redundant, fallacious, irrational, Formal sophistic or sophistical: To say that you exist because you think and that you think because you exist is an example of circular reasoning.
circulate | circulate: v. 1 move or go about or round or around, orbit, flow, course, run, circle: The blood circulates from the heart through the arteries and veins and back to the heart. 2 spread, distribute, disseminate, issue, publish, air, announce, proclaim, make known, noise abroad, bruit about, report, broadcast, reveal, divulge, advertise, publicize, promulgate, put about, bring or put out, pass out or round or around: He has been circulating the story that his ex-wife cheated on her income tax. 3 spread, go round or around, be bruited about, come out: A rumour has been circulating about your behaviour at the office party.
circulation | circulation: n. 1 circuit, course, orbit, flow, flowing, motion: It was Harvey who discovered the circulation of the blood. 2 spread, spreading, dissemination, transmission, passage, distribution, diffusion, publication, advertisement, announcement, issuance, issuing, pronouncement, proclamation, promulgation, broadcast, broadcasting: The state has again forbidden the free circulation of information.
circumstance | circumstance: n. 1 Often, circumstances. situation, condition(s), state (of affairs); status, station, resources, income, finances: In the circumstances, all leave is cancelled. Each person will be helped according to the individual circumstance. 2 event, incident, episode, occurrence, affair, happening, occasion: Any unforeseen circumstance could set off a shooting war.
circumstantial | circumstantial: adj. 1 indirect, presumptive, evidential or evidentiary, interpretive, deduced, presumed, presumptive, presumable, implicative, implied, inferred, inferential: Some circumstantial evidence is very strong, as when you find a gun in the suspect''s house. 2 accidental, incidental, hearsay, indirect, unimportant, adventitious, provisional, secondary, unessential, non-essential, fortuitous, chance, extraneous: Such circumstantial trivia have no bearing on the case. 3 detailed, particular, precise, explicit, specific: We cannot believe that he invented so circumstantial a narrative.
citizen | citizen: n. 1 voter; native; householder, resident, inhabitant, denizen, dweller, freeman; Brit patrial, ratepayer; US taxpayer: All citizens are entitled to certain rights. 2 city-dweller, town-dweller, townsman, townswoman, villager, burgess, oppidan: She considers herself a citizen of Oxford.
city | city: n. metropolis, municipality, borough, burgh; conurbation, megalopolis; Brit urban district; see, diocese, bishopric; New Zealand urban area; Colloq town, US burg, big apple: We gave up our flat in the city and moved to the country.
civil | civil: adj. 1 civilian, non-military, lay, laic, laical, secular: There is a distinction between civil law and canon law. 2 domestic, internal; public: The economic conditions have led to civil strife. 3 polite, courteous, respectful, well-mannered, proper, civilized, cordial, formal, courtly, urbane, polished, refined: They are civil enough, but I always have the feeling they really despise tourists.
civility | civility: n. courtesy, politeness, respect, comity, urbanity, amiability, consideration, courteousness, cordiality, propriety, tact, diplomacy, politesse, protocol: Despite his rude behaviour at her dinner-party, she treats him with great civility.
civilization | civilization: n. 1 culture, refinement, cultivation, enlightenment, edification, sophistication, polish: The Romans brought civilization to many peoples who had been quite barbarous. 2 culture, mores, custom(s): He has studied Egyptian civilization all his life.
civilize | civilize: v. 1 enlighten, refine, polish, edify, educate, acculturate: Civilized people do not behave in such a boorish way. 2 tame, domesticate; broaden, elevate, acculturate: The claim that they civilized the Aborigines means only that they forced them to conform to the White man''s notion of civilization.
