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cycle

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cycle¹

  • /ˈsaɪ.kəl/ UK
  • [ˈsaɪ.kɫ̩] UK
  • /ˈsaɪ.kəl/ Canada, US
  • [ˈsʌɪ.kəl] Canada, US
  • /ˈsɑe.kəl/ Australia
  • [ˈsɑe.kɫ̩] Australia
  • /ˈsaɪ.kəl/ New Zealand
  • [ˈsɑe̯.kɫ̩] New Zealand
  • [ˈsɑe̯.ko] New Zealand
  • [ˈsɑe̯.kʊ] New Zealand

Rhymes with -aɪkəl

Where it comes from

From Middle English cicle (“fixed length period of years”), from Late Latin cyclus, from Ancient Greek κύκλος (kúklos, “circle”), from Proto-Hellenic *kúklos, *kʷókʷlos, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷékʷlos (“circle, wheel”).

Doublet of chakra, chakram, charkha, chukker, cyclus, kike, and wheel (see there for more).

noun cycles

  1. An interval of space or time in which one set of events or phenomena is completed. the cycle of the seasons, or of the year
  2. A complete rotation of anything.
  3. A process that returns to its beginning and then repeats itself in the same sequence. electoral cycle    menstrual cycle    news cycle
  4. The members of the sequence formed by such a process.
  5. A series of poems, songs or other works of art, typically longer than a trilogy. The Ring of the Nibelung is a cycle of four operas by Richard Wagner.
  6. A programme on a washing machine, dishwasher, or other such device. Put the washing in on a warm cycle.
  7. A single, a double, a triple, and a home run hit by the same player in the same game. Jones hit for the cycle in the game.
  8. A closed walk or path, with or without repeated vertices allowed.
  9. A chain whose boundary is zero.
  10. An imaginary circle or orbit in the heavens; one of the celestial spheres. With centric and eccentric scribbled o'er, Cycle and epicycle, orb in orb
  11. An age; a long period of time. Thro' the shadow of the world we sweep into the younger day: / Better fifty years of Europe than a cycle of Cathay.
  12. An orderly list for a given time; a calendar. [H]ere we endeavour to preſent our Gard'ners with a compleat Cycle of what is requiſite to be done throughout every Moneth of the Year: […]
  13. One entire round in a circle or a spire. a cycle or set of leaves
  14. A discharge of a taser. Officers have made the mistake of applying many Taser cycles, expecting the suspect to relent.
  15. One take-off and landing of an aircraft, referring to a pressurisation cycle which places stresses on the fuselage.
  16. A scheduled period of time of weeks or months wherein a performance-enhancing substance or, by extension, supplement is applied, to be followed by another one where it is not or the dosage is lower. The deterioration of his physique may be a result of his being off cycle.
  17. plural, usually A hertz; cycle per second. […] the Plan incorporates in proper combination every available modern technique, including extensive electrification on the new standard high-voltage a.c. system at a frequency of 50 cycles; main-line diesel traction as a half-way house to electrification; lightweight diesel trains for secondary an

verb cycles · cycling · cycled

  1. To go through a cycle or to put through a cycle. When my wife and I heard a plaintive whinny from our laundry room the other day, we knew that our old dryer had cycled its last load.
  2. To turn power off and back on Avoid cycling the device unnecessarily.
  3. To maintain a team's possession of the puck in the offensive zone by handling and passing the puck in a loop from the boards near the goal up the side boards and passing to back to the boards near the goal They have their cycling game going tonight.

cycle²

  • /ˈsaɪ.kəl/ UK
  • [ˈsaɪ.kɫ̩] UK
  • /ˈsaɪ.kəl/ Canada, US
  • [ˈsʌɪ.kəl] Canada, US
  • /ˈsɑe.kəl/ Australia
  • [ˈsɑe.kɫ̩] Australia
  • /ˈsaɪ.kəl/ New Zealand
  • [ˈsɑe̯.kɫ̩] New Zealand
  • [ˈsɑe̯.ko] New Zealand
  • [ˈsɑe̯.kʊ] New Zealand

Rhymes with -aɪkəl

Where it comes from

From -cycle (in bicycle, monocycle, and tricycle), perhaps associated with etymology 1. Compare French cycle in the same sense. The verb is either from the noun or a clipping of bicycle (verb).

noun cycles

  1. A pedal-powered vehicle, such as a unicycle, bicycle, or tricycle, or a motorized vehicle that has either two or three wheels.
  2. specifically, usually A bicycle.

verb cycles · cycling · cycled

  1. To ride a bicycle or other cycle. Sometimes I would cycle over to Beckenham to watch the boat trains and Kent Coast expresses of the London, Chatham & Dover Railway, which seemed very superior to its future partner.

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