circuses

Noun

circus (plural circuses or (rare) circusses or (rare) circi)

1. A traveling company of performers that may include acrobats, clowns, trained animals, and other novelty acts, that gives shows usually in a circular tent.
   • The circus will be in town next week.
2. A round open space in a town or city where multiple streets meet.
   • Oxford Circus in London is at the north end of Regent Street.
3. (figuratively) A spectacle; a noisy fuss; a chaotic and/or crowded place.
   • The village would be turned into a circus over this. He groaned, it was just the sort of case the media had a field day over. He had to get the whole thing sorted fast before anyone got wind of it.2009, Christine Brooks, A Quiet Village, page 81
4. (dated, slang) An undertaking or arrangement.
   • "Right you are; I'll put him wise," undertook Nickle briskly. "After all, it's entirely your circus. Shall we stay here and—"1934, Ernest Bramah, The Bravo of London
5. (collective, rare) A group of puffins.
   • The circus of puffins were pictured by Alana Willox who was out on a walk at the Bullers of Buchan in Buchan, Aberdeenshire on Sunday.2022 April 20, Darren McConachie, “Scots amateur photographer captures stunning images of puffins”, in Deadline
6. (historical) In the ancient Roman Empire, a building for chariot racing.

See all 9 meanings of circus