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(s?"k'l), n.[F. ycle, LL. cyclus, fr. Gr. ky°klos ring or circle, cycle; akin to Skr. cakra wheel, circle. See Wheel.] 1. An imaginary circle or orbit in the heavens; one of the celestial spheres. Milton. 2. An interval of time in which a certain succession of events or phenomena is completed, and then returns again and again, uniformly and continually in the same order; a periodical space of time marked by the recurrence of something peculiar; as, the cycle of the seasons, or of the year. Wages . . . bear a full proportion . . . to the medium of provision during the last bad cycle of twenty years. Burke. 3. An age; a long period of time. Better fifty years of Europe than a cycle of Cathay. Tennyson. 4. An orderly list for a given time; a calendar. [Obs.] We . . . present our gardeners with a complete cycle of what is requisite to be done throughout every month of the year. Evelyn. 5. The circle of subjects connected with the exploits of the hero or heroes of some particular period which Cy"cle (s?"k'l), v. i.[imp. & p. p.Cycled. (-k'ld); p. pr. & vb. n.Cycling (-klng).] 1. To pass through a cycle of changes; to recur in cycles. Tennyson. Darwin. 2. To ride a bicycle, tricycle, or other form of cycle. Cy"cle n.(a) (Thermodynamics) A series of operations in which heat is imparted to (or taken away from) a working substance which by its expansion gives up a part of its internal energy in the form of mechanical work (or being compressed increases its internal energy) and is again brought back to its original state. (b) (Elec.) A complete positive and negative wave of an alternating current; one period. The number of cycles (per second) is a measure of the frequency of an alternating current. スポンサード リンク
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