I. ˈsərkə̇t, -ə̄k-, -əik-, usu -kə̇d.+V noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French circuite, from Latin circuitus, from past participle of circuire, circumire to go around, from circum- + ire to go — more at issue
1.
a. : a usually more or less circular line encompassing an area : circumference
a swamp about 10 miles in circuit
b. : the course around the four bases in baseball
he hit for the circuit
2. : the act of moving around typically in an orbit or a circular course : a circular route : a course around a periphery : revolution
the periodic circuit of the earth around the sun
the sightseeing newcomer makes the circuit of the state — American Guide Series: Florida
3.
a. : a roundabout way : a circuitous or indirect course
describing a circuit rather than a straight course
b. obsolete : roundabout speech : circumlocution
4. : space enclosed within a circumference or periphery : area , scope
the circuit of the duke's lands
5.
a. : an appointed or accustomed course from place to place in following a calling
the old “mail rider”, who was just returning on his circuit of twenty-six miles — Ellen Glasgow
b. : the route of a traveling judge or preacher around a district or territory assigned to him
lawyers rode the circuits like the backwoods preachers of the day — American Guide Series: Tennessee
c. : a judicial district legally established
the state shall be divided into thirteen circuits — W.Va. Constitution
also : the judges and lawyers making a circuit
d. : a group of church congregations ministered to or under the supervision of one pastor (as in the Methodist Church)
6.
a. : the complete path of an electric current including any displacement current
b. : a specified portion of a circuit
external circuit
generator circuit
c. : the region through which the magnetic flux from any source extends especially when largely confined within a ferromagnetic body (as a magnet)
7.
a. : association , conference , league
baseball circuit
football circuit
b. : a series of harness races held at associated tracks according to a more or less permanent schedule
c. : a group of motion-picture theaters owned by one company
d. : a number of associated theaters at which productions are presented in turn
e. : an association, ring, or coterie sharing common interests or similar practices and gathering or performing at various places at different times
the nightclub circuit
the small college circuit
8.
a. : an assemblage of electronic elements : hookup
b. : a system for two-way communication between two places (as by telegraph, telephone, or radio)
9. : a closed path followed by a fluid in a mechanical system
hydraulic circuit
oil circuit
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
transitive verb
: to make a circuit about
an automobile route circuiting the Back Bay section of Portland — American Guide Series: Maine
: go or move in a circuit about
intransitive verb
: to go or move over a circuit
while five of my brethren are circuiting about the state — O.W.Holmes †1935