CIRCULAR

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does circular mean? 

• CIRCULAR (noun)
  The noun CIRCULAR has 1 sense:

1. an advertisement (usually printed on a page or in a leaflet) intended for wide distribution

  Familiarity information: CIRCULAR used as a noun is very rare.

• CIRCULAR (adjective)
  The adjective CIRCULAR has 2 senses:

1. having the shape or form of a circle

2. describing a circle; moving in a circle

  Familiarity information: CIRCULAR used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CIRCULAR (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An advertisement (usually printed on a page or in a leaflet) intended for wide distribution

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

bill; broadsheet; broadside; circular; flier; flyer; handbill; throwaway

Context example:

he mailed the circular to all subscribers

Hypernyms ("circular" is a kind of...):

ad; advert; advertisement; advertising; advertizement; advertizing (a public promotion of some product or service)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "circular"):

stuffer (an advertising circular that is enclosed with other material and (usually) sent by mail)

Derivation:

circularise (cause to become widely known)

circularise (distribute circulars to)

circularise (canvass by distributing letters)

circularize (distribute circulars to)

circularize (canvass by distributing letters)

circulate (cause to be distributed)

• CIRCULAR (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Having the shape or form of a circle

Synonyms:

circular; round

Similar:

disc-shaped; disclike; discoid; discoidal; disk-shaped; disklike (having a flat circular shape)

wheel-like (round like a wheel)

roundish (somewhat round in appearance or form)

ringlike (having the shape of a ring)

pinwheel-shaped (having the round shape of a pinwheel)

pear-shaped (having a round shape tapered at one end)

pancake-like (resembling a pancake in shape)

nutlike (resembling a nut in shape and size)

moon-round; moonlike (resembling the moon in shape)

goblet-shaped (resembling the shape of a goblet)

cumuliform (shaped like a cumulus cloud)

coccoid (spherical; like a coccus)

capitate (being abruptly enlarged and globose at the tip)

bulb-shaped; bulblike; bulbous (shaped like a bulb)

barrel-shaped (having the general shape of a barrel)

ball-shaped; global; globose; globular; orbicular; spheric; spherical (having the shape of a sphere or ball)

apple-shaped (having the general shape of an apple)

Also:

rounded (curving and somewhat round in shape rather than jagged)

Derivation:

circle (ellipse in which the two axes are of equal length; a plane curve generated by one point moving at a constant distance from a fixed point)

circularity (the roundness of a 2-dimensional figure)

circularize (make circular)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Describing a circle; moving in a circle

Synonyms:

circular; orbitual; rotary

Context example:

the circular motion of the wheel

Similar:

cyclic; cyclical (recurring in cycles)

Derivation:

circle (movement once around a course)

circle (any circular or rotating mechanism)

 Context examples 

Presence of multiple herniations of the mucosa and submucosa of the colon through the circular muscle layer.

(Colonic Diverticulum, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

Circular movement in the direction of the rotation of the hands of a clock.

(Clockwise, NCI Thesaurus)

Cosmids are maintained as circular molecules.

(Cosmid Vector, NCI Thesaurus)

Circular movement in the direction opposite to the rotation of the hands of a clock.

(Counterclockwise, NCI Thesaurus)

A circular seal with a depressed center and raised sealing lips.

(Cup Seal Device Component, NCI Thesaurus)

Clevudine has a long half-life and shows significant reduction of covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA), therefore the patient is less likely to have a relapse after treatment is discontinued.

(Clevudine, NCI Thesaurus)

A ring of smooth muscle consisting of circular and radiating fibers within the middle layer of the eye.

(Ciliary Muscle, NCI Thesaurus)

Moore notes that the bright, sediment-like material appears to be filling in old craters (for example, the bright circular feature to the lower left of center).

(New Horizons Finds Second Mountain Range in Pluto’s ‘Heart’, NASA)

As Europa and Enceladus move in their orbits, a gravitational tug-of-war between their respective parent planets and neighboring moons keeps their orbits from becoming circular.

(Cracks in Pluto's moon could indicate it once had an underground ocean, NASA)

As the experiment continued, the dunes got further and further apart, until they form an equilibrium on opposite sides of the circular flume, remaining 180 degrees apart.

(Sand dunes can ‘communicate’ with each other, University of Cambridge)