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# circus

noun (a circus, circuses)

«circus» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. A circus is a travelling show, often in a big tent, with acrobats, clowns, jugglers and sometimes trained animals. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/circus/#m1)
2. (UK) A circus is a round open place where several streets meet, as in Piccadilly Circus in London. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/circus/#m2)
3. (informal) A circus is a noisy, messy or silly situation: «The kitchen was a circus this morning.» [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/circus/#m3)

### In the lessons

In stories the circus brings excitement and colourful characters; maths problems count tickets, seats and acts. In everyday speech, calling something a circus means it is chaotic. Phrases: «go to the circus», «circus tent», «circus act», «a media circus».

### Examples

- We went to the circus and saw a juggler. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/circus/#x1)
- The circus tent holds 400 people; 275 seats are full — how many are empty? [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/circus/#x2)
- The clown fell over and everyone laughed. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/circus/#x3)
- Piccadilly Circus is busy with traffic. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/circus/#x4)
- With five kids and a dog, breakfast is a circus. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/circus/#x5)
- The circus came to town for a week. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/circus/#x6)
- I’d much rather go back to Kansas with you and be in a circus again.” [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/circus/#x7)

### Note

Plural: circuses. Countable. From Latin for «circle», so a road circus is round. Many circuses today have no animals.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «circus» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/circus/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«circus» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/circus.html) on Mova free.