cycle
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.
to ride or travel by bicycle, motorcycle, tricycle, etc.
to move or revolve in cycles; pass through cycles.
Idioms about cycle
hit for the cycle, Baseball. (of one player) to hit a single, double, triple, and home run in one game.
Origin of cycle
1Other words from cycle
- su·per·cy·cle, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
British Dictionary definitions for cycle
/ (ˈsaɪkəl) /
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
short for bicycle, tricycle, motorcycle
astronomy the orbit of a celestial body
a recurrent series of events or processes in plants and animals: a life cycle; a growth 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
(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
Origin of cycle
1Derived forms of cycle
- cycling, noun, adjective
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
Scientific definitions for cycle
[ sī′kəl ]
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.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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