Dictionary
cy•cle
Pronunciation: (sī'kul), [key]
—n., v., -cled, -cling.
—
n.
1. any complete round or series of occurrences that repeats or is repeated.
2. a round of years or a recurring period of time, esp. one in which certain events or phenomena repeat themselves in the same order and at the same intervals.
3. any long period of years; age.
4. a bicycle, motorcycle, tricycle, etc.
5. a group of poems, dramas, prose narratives, songs etc., about a central theme, figure, or the like:
the Arthurian cycle.
6. Physics.
a. a sequence of changing states that, upon completion, produces a final state identical to the original one.
b. one of a succession of periodically recurring events.
c. a complete alteration in which a phenomenon attains a maximum and minimum value, returning to a final value equal to the original one.
7. Math.a permutation of a set of elements that leaves the original cyclic order of the elements unchanged.
8. Computers.
a. the smallest interval of time required to complete an operation in a computer.
b. a series of computer operations repeated as a unit.
9. hit for the cycle, Baseball.(of one player) to hit a single, double, triple, and home run in one game.
—
v.i.
1. to ride or travel by bicycle, motorcycle, tricycle, etc.
2. to move or revolve in cycles; pass through cycles.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
