circus

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A public entertainment consisting typically of a variety of performances by acrobats, clowns, and trained animals.
2. n. A traveling company that performs such entertainments.
3. n. A circular arena, surrounded by tiers of seats and often covered by a tent, in which such shows are performed.
4. n. A roofless oval enclosure surrounded by tiers of seats that was used in antiquity for public spectacles.
5. n. Chiefly British An open circular place where several streets intersect.
6. n. Informal Something suggestive of a circus, as in frenetic activity or noisy disorder: "The city is a circus of the senses” ( William H. Gass).

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. In Roman antiquity, a large, oblong, roofless inclosure, used especially for horse- and chariot-races. It was rounded at one end, and had at the other the barriers or starting-places for the horses. The course passed round a low central wall, called the spina, which reached nearly from end to end, and was surrounded by tiers of seats rising one above another for the accommodation of the spectators. It was essentially an adaptation of the Greek hippodrome, but was used also, like the amphitheater, for gladiatorial contests, combats with wild beasts, etc.
2. n. In modern times, a place of amusement where feats of horsemanship and acrobatic displays form the principal entertainment; the company of performers in such a place, with their equipage; the entertainment given.
3. n. In England, the space formed at the intersection of two streets by making the buildings at the angles concave, so as to give the intervening space the form of circle: as, Oxford Circus, Regent Circus, in London.
4. n. An inclosed space of any kind; a circuit.
5. n. [capitalized] In ornithology, a genus of diurnal birds of prey, the harriers, typical of the subfamily Circinæ (which see) C. cyaneus is the common harrier of Europe; C. hudsonius is the North American marsh-hawk; and there are sundry other species.

Wiktionary

1. n. A traveling company of performers that may include acrobats, clowns, trained animals, and other novelty acts, that gives shows usually in a circular tent.
2. n. A round open space in a town or city where multiple streets meet.
3. n. historical In the ancient Roman Empire, a building for chariot racing.
4. n. military, World War II A code name for bomber attacks with fighter escorts in the day time. The attacks were against short-range targets with the intention of occupying enemy fighters and keeping their fighter units in the area concerned.
5. n. obsolete Circuit; space; enclosure.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. (Roman Antiq.) A level oblong space surrounded on three sides by seats of wood, earth, or stone, rising in tiers one above another, and divided lengthwise through the middle by a barrier around which the track or course was laid out. It was used for chariot races, games, and public shows.
2. n. A circular inclosure for the exhibition of feats of horsemanship, acrobatic displays, etc. Also, the company of performers, with their equipage.
3. n. rare Circuit; space; inclosure.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. an arena consisting of an oval or circular area enclosed by tiers of seats and usually covered by a tent
2. n. a genus of haws comprising the harriers
3. n. a travelling company of entertainers; including trained animals
4. n. a frenetic disorganized (and often comic) disturbance suggestive of a large public entertainment
5. n. (antiquity) an open-air stadium for chariot races and gladiatorial games
6. n. a performance given by a traveling company of acrobats, clowns, and trained animals