Definition

1. Noun: - A roughly circular line, route, or movement that starts and finishes at the same place: A closed path or loop. - A system of electrical conductors and components forming a path for current to flow: An electrical circuit. - A series of events or venues visited in a regular sequence: A regular journey or route taken by a person or group, especially for professional purposes. - A judicial district: An area containing several courts over which a judge or judges travel to hold sessions. - A sports track: A track for racing, especially for cars or motorcycles.

2. Verb: - To move all the way around a place: To make a circuit of something.

Examples

• Noun:

  • He completed a circuit of the park on his morning run.
  • A short circuit caused the power outage.
  • The band is on a national concert circuit.
  • The case was heard in the Ninth Circuit Court.
  • The Formula 1 cars sped around the circuit.

• Verb:

  • The judge circuits the county courts twice a year.

Advanced Usage

• "To make a circuit of": To travel around the edge or perimeter of a place.

  • We made a circuit of the lake before heading home.

• "Closed/open circuit": In electronics, a complete/incomplete path for electrical current.

  • The television system operates on a closed circuit.

Variants and Related Words

• Circuitry (n): The detailed structure and components of an electrical circuit.

  • The device's internal circuitry is very complex.

• Circuitous (adj): (Of a route or journey) longer than the most direct way; roundabout.

  • We took a circuitous path to avoid the traffic.

Synonyms

• Loop: A shape produced by a curve that bends around and crosses itself.
• Tour: A journey for pleasure in which several different places are visited.
• Track: A prepared course or circuit for racing.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Circuit around: To move in a circular path around an area.
  • The plane circuited around the airport waiting for clearance to land.

Related Idioms

• "On the circuit": Regularly participating in a series of events at different venues (e.g., lecture circuit, comedy circuit).
  • After her book was published, she spent a year on the speaking circuit.

Noun

1. movement once around a course
   • he drove an extra lap just for insurance
2. a racetrack for automobile races
3. (law) a judicial division of a state or the United States (so-called because originally judges traveled and held court in different locations); one of the twelve groups of states in the United States that is covered by a particular circuit court of appeals
4. the boundary line encompassing an area or object
   • he had walked the full circumference of his land
   • a danger to all races over the whole circumference of the globe
5. an established itinerary of venues or events that a particular group of people travel to
   • she's a familiar name on the club circuit
   • on the lecture circuit
   • the judge makes a circuit of the courts in his district
   • the international tennis circuit
6. a journey or route all the way around a particular place or area
   • they took an extended tour of Europe
   • we took a quick circuit of the park
   • a ten-day coach circuit of the island
7. an electrical device that provides a path for electrical current to flow

Verb

1. make a circuit
   • They were circuiting about the state