circuit

SaySUR-kit/ˈsɝ.kɪt/UK/ˈsɜː.kɪt/

21 meanings of circuit

1
nouncountable
A closed loop that lets electricity flow from start to finish.
Like a running track for electricity: it has to make a full loop to keep going.
A simple circuit lights the bulb when you close the switch.
If the circuit breaks, the toy stops working.
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2
nouncountable
A track where cars or runners race around and come back to the start.
Like a loop in a video game where racers go round and round.
The cars roared around the circuit at high speed.
She walked the circuit before the big race.
Similartrack, course, racetrack
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3
nouncountable
A set route someone travels for work, stopping at the same places each time.
Like a school bus that follows the same path and stops every day.
The mail carrier finished her circuit by noon.
He drives the same circuit every week to check the stores.
Similarround, route, beat, tour
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4
nouncountable
One full round through all the exercises in a workout set.
Like finishing one full lap of chores before starting over.
She finished the first circuit and rested for a minute.
Try to complete three circuits without stopping.
Similarround
5
nouncountable
The distance all the way around the edge of an area.
Like the length of string you'd need to wrap once around a box.
The circuit of the lake is about three miles.
We measured the circuit of the garden wall.
Similarcircumference, perimeter
6
nouncountable
A trip all the way around something, back to where it started.
Like walking around a tree and ending up where you began.
The moon makes one circuit of the Earth each month.
The hands of the clock complete a circuit every twelve hours.
Similarorbit, revolution, lap
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7
nouncountable
The area where a traveling judge hears cases in different towns.
Like a doctor who visits several small towns instead of working in just one.
The judge traveled across the circuit to hear cases in each county.
Her court covers a wide rural circuit.
Similardistrict, jurisdiction
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8
nounabbreviation
Short for circuit court. It is a court that hears cases across a region.
The case was filed in the county circuit last spring.
She was elected judge of the local circuit.
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9
nouncountable
A group of movie theaters owned and run by the same company.
Like a coffee shop brand with many stores, but for movie theaters.
The film opened across the whole circuit on the same day.
That company runs a circuit of small-town theaters.
Similarchain
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10
nouncountable
A group of theaters where the same performers travel and put on their shows.
Like a band going on tour, playing the same group of clubs over and over.
The comedy act toured the circuit for two years.
Singers on the circuit performed in a different town each week.
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11
nouncountable
The space inside a circle or inside set borders.
Like the space inside a fence: everything the fence holds in.
The whole circuit of the courtyard was paved with stone.
Lamps lit the circuit of the inner garden.
Similarcompass, precinct
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12
nouncountable
Something that goes all the way around another thing, like a ring or a crown.
Like the rim that goes all the way around a wheel.
A golden circuit of laurel crowned the victor's head.
The fortress stood inside a stone circuit of high walls.
Similarring, circle, band
13
nouncountable
In math, a path through a graph that returns to its starting point without using any line twice.
Like walking a loop around a park and ending up back at the gate.
A circuit in a graph brings you back to where you started.
She drew a circuit that touched every junction without using any line twice.
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14
nouncountable
A group of nearby Methodist churches organized together as one unit.
Like nearby schools that share one principal.
Their circuit includes five small churches in the valley.
The preacher travels across the whole circuit every Sunday.
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15
nouncountable
A thought that keeps going around in someone's mind without their knowing and controls how they act.
Like a song stuck in your head that you can't stop playing.
A circuit can make a person repeat the same worry again and again.
He felt a circuit controlling his choices without his noticing.
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16
verbobsoletetransitive
To travel all the way around a place.
Like walking around the edge of a field, all the way back to the start.
Traders would circuit the markets to sell their goods.
She circuited the whole island in a single day.
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17
verbobsoleteintransitive
To keep going around in a circle.
perpetual Motion keep, / Quick circuiting ; nor dare they close their Eyes
1708, [John Philips], CyderHere, circuiting means moving around and around in circles.
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18
nounobsolete
A roundabout way of saying something, using more words than you need.
Like taking the long way around instead of saying it straight.
He wrapped his refusal in a long circuit of polite words.
She spoke in a circuit, never coming straight to the point.
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19
nounhistoricalcountable
One of the roughly ten large provinces of China during the Tang and early Yuan periods.
Like one of the big states that together make up a whole country.
Each circuit was governed by officials sent from the capital.
The empire was divided into about ten circuits.
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20
nounhistoricalcountable
A major provincial division of China from the Yuan dynasty to the early Republic.
Like a large region that a country splits itself into for governing.
Tax records were kept separately for each circuit.
The reformers redrew the boundaries of several circuits.
21
nounhistoricalcountable
A county on the edges of early China, usually home to non-Chinese people, used from the Han to the Western Jin.
Like a small town on the far edge of a country, near the border.
Each circuit along the border was home to many non-Chinese families.
Soldiers were stationed in the frontier circuits.
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Practice

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Origins

Meanings 1–18

It comes from Latin circuitus, meaning 'a going round', built from circum ('around') plus ire ('to go').

Meanings 19–21

It is a calque of the Chinese word 道 (dào) or 路 (lù).