Cycle

7 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Cycle \Cy"cle\ (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.
        [1913 Webster]


  
     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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Wages . . . bear a full proportion . . . to the
              medium of provision during the last bad cycle of
              twenty years.                         --Burke.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. An age; a long period of time.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Better fifty years of Europe than a cycle of Cathay.
                                                    --Tennyson.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. An orderly list for a given time; a calendar. [Obs.]
        [1913 Webster]
  
              We . . . present our gardeners with a complete cycle
              of what is requisite to be done throughout every
              month of the year.                    --Evelyn.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     5. The circle of subjects connected with the exploits of the
        hero or heroes of some particular period which have served
        as a popular theme for poetry, as the legend of Arthur and
        the knights of the Round Table, and that of Charlemagne
        and his paladins.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     6. (Bot.) One entire round in a circle or a spire; as, a
        cycle or set of leaves. --Gray.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     7. A bicycle or tricycle, or other light velocipede.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     8. A motorcycle.
        [PJC]
  
     9. (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.
        [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
  
     10. (Technology) A complete positive and negative, or forward
         and reverse, action of any periodic process, such as a
         vibration, an electric field oscillation, or a current
         alternation; one period. Hence: (Elec.) A complete
         positive and negative wave of an alternating current. The
         number of cycles (per second) is a measure of the
         frequency of an alternating current.
         [Webster 1913 Suppl. + PJC]
  
     {Calippic cycle}, a period of 76 years, or four Metonic
        cycles; -- so called from Calippus, who proposed it as an
        improvement on the Metonic cycle.
  
     {Cycle of eclipses}, a period of about 6,586 days, the time
        of revolution of the moon's node; -- called {Saros} by the
        Chaldeans.
  
     {Cycle of indiction}, a period of 15 years, employed in Roman
        and ecclesiastical chronology, not founded on any
        astronomical period, but having reference to certain
        judicial acts which took place at stated epochs under the
        Greek emperors.
  
     {Cycle of the moon}, or {Metonic cycle}, a period of 19
        years, after the lapse of which the new and full moon
        returns to the same day of the year; -- so called from
        Meton, who first proposed it.
  
     {Cycle of the sun}, {Solar cycle}, a period of 28 years, at
        the end of which time the days of the month return to the
        same days of the week. The dominical or Sunday letter
        follows the same order; hence the solar cycle is also
        called the {cycle of the Sunday letter}. In the Gregorian
        calendar the solar cycle is in general interrupted at the
        end of the century.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Cycle \Cy"cle\ (s?"k'l), v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Cycled}. (-k'ld);
     p. pr. & vb. n. {Cycling} (-kl?ng).]
     1. To pass through a cycle[2] of changes; to recur in cycles.
        --Tennyson. --Darwin.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To ride a bicycle, tricycle, or other form of cycle.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  cycle \cy"cle\ (s?"k'l), v. t.
     To cause to pass through a cycle[2].
     [PJC] Cyclic

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  cycle
       n 1: an interval during which a recurring sequence of events
            occurs; "the neverending cycle of the seasons" [syn: {rhythm},
             {round}]
       2: a series of poems or songs on the same theme; "schubert's
          song cycles"
       3: a periodically repeated sequence of events; "a cycle of
          reprisal and retaliation"
       4: the unit of frequency; one Hertz has a periodic interval of
          one second [syn: {Hertz}, {Hz}, {cycle per second}, {cycles/second},
           {cps}]
       5: a single complete execution of a periodically repeated
          phenomenon; "a year constitutes a cycle of the seasons"
          [syn: {oscillation}]
       6: a wheeled vehicle that has two wheels and is moved by foot
          pedals [syn: {bicycle}, {bike}, {wheel}]
       v 1: cause to go through a recurring sequence; "cycle thge
            laundry in this washing program"
       2: pass through a cycle; "This machine automatically cycles"
       3: ride a motorcycle [syn: {motorcycle}]
       4: ride a bicycle [syn: {bicycle}, {bike}, {pedal}, {wheel}]
       5: recur in repeating sequences

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  291 Moby Thesaurus words for "cycle":
     AC, AF, CPS, DC, EHF, HF, Hz, Indian file, Kekule formula, MF, O,
     Platonic year, RF, SHF, UHF, VHF, VLF, absorption current,
     active current, aeon, age, alternate, alternating current, ambit,
     annular muscle, annulus, annus magnus, areola, array, arsis,
     articulation, atomic cluster, audio frequency, aureole, bank,
     be here again, beat, benzene ring, bicycle, bicycle-built-for-two,
     bike, bout, branched chain, bus, buzz, carrier frequency,
     catch a train, catena, catenation, chain, chain reaction, chaining,
     chaplet, chauffeur, chopper, circle, circuit, circuiteer,
     circulate, circumambulate, circumference, circummigrate,
     circumnavigate, circumvent, circus, close the circle, closed chain,
     closed circle, come again, come and go, come around,
     come full circle, come round, come round again, come up again,
     compass, compound radical, concatenation, conduction current,
     connection, consecution, continuum, convection current, corona,
     coronet, course, crown, cycle of indiction, cycles, date, day,
     delta current, descent, describe a circle, diadem, diastole,
     dielectric displacement current, direct current, discus, disk,
     displacement current, downbeat, drive, drone, eddy current,
     electric current, electric stream, emission current, encircle,
     encompass, endless belt, endless round, entrain, eternal return,
     exciting current, extremely high frequency, fairy ring, file,
     filiation, flank, free alternating current, frequency,
     frequency spectrum, full circle, galvanic current, gamut, garland,
     generation, girdle, girdle the globe, glory, go about, go around,
     go by rail, go round, go the round, gradation, great year, gyre,
     halo, hertz, heterocycle, high frequency, high-frequency current,
     homocycle, hum, idle current, indiction, induced current,
     induction current, intermediate frequency, intermit,
     ionization current, iron, joyride, juice, kilocycles, kilohertz,
     lap, lasso, lattice, line, lineage, logical circle, loop, looplet,
     low frequency, low-frequency current, lower frequencies,
     magic circle, magnetizing current, make a circuit, make a train,
     medium frequency, megacycles, megahertz, minibike, molecule,
     monocycle, monotone, motocycle, motor, motorbike, motorcycle,
     multiphase current, nexus, noose, orbit, oscillate, pattern, pedal,
     pedicab, pendulum, periodicity, pig, plenum, powder train,
     progression, pulsate, pulsating direct current, pulse, queue,
     radical, radio frequency, radius, range, rank, reactive current,
     reappear, recur, recurrence, recycle, reoccur, repeat,
     reticulation, return, revolution, revolve, ride, ring, road-bike,
     roll around, rondelle, rotary current, rotate, rotation, round,
     round trip, roundel, rounds, routine, row, run, saucer, scale,
     scooter, sequel, sequence, series, side chain, sidewalk bike,
     simple radical, single file, single-phase alternating current,
     skirt, space-lattice, spark frequency, spectrum, spell, sphincter,
     spiral, straight chain, stray current, string, succession,
     superhigh frequency, surround, swath, systole, take a joyride,
     tandem, taxi, thermionic current, thermoelectric current, thesis,
     thread, three-phase alternating current, tier, time, tour,
     trail bike, train, tricycle, trike, turn, two-wheeler,
     ultrahigh frequency, undulate, upbeat, upper frequencies,
     velocipede, very high frequency, very low frequency,
     vicious circle, voltaic current, walk, watt current, wheel,
     wheel around, windrow, wreath
  
  

From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) [jargon]:

  cycle 1. n. The basic unit of computation. What every hacker wants more
     of (noted hacker Bill Gosper described himself as a "cycle junkie"). One
     can describe an instruction as taking so many `clock cycles'. Often the
     computer can access its memory once on every clock cycle, and so one
     speaks also of `memory cycles'. These are technical meanings of {cycle}.
     The jargon meaning comes from the observation that there are only so
     many cycles per second, and when you are sharing a computer the cycles
     get divided up among the users. The more cycles the computer spends
     working on your program rather than someone else's, the faster your
     program will run. That's why every hacker wants more cycles: so he can
     spend less time waiting for the computer to respond. 2. By extension, a
     notional unit of _human_ thought power, emphasizing that lots of things
     compete for the typical hacker's think time. "I refused to get involved
     with the Rubik's Cube back when it was big. Knew I'd burn too many
     cycles on it if I let myself." 3. vt. Syn. {bounce} (sense 4), {120
     reset}; from the phrase `cycle power'. "Cycle the machine again, that
     serial port's still hung."
  
  

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  cycle
       
           A basic unit of computation, one period of a computer
          {clock}.
       
          Each {instruction} takes a number of clock cycles.  Often the
          computer can access its memory once on every clock cycle, and
          so one speaks also of "memory cycles".
       
          Every {hacker} wants more cycles (noted hacker {Bill Gosper}
          describes himself as a "cycle junkie").  There are only so
          many cycles per second, and when you are sharing a computer
          the cycles get divided up among the users.  The more cycles
          the computer spends working on your program rather than
          someone else's, the faster your program will run.  That's why
          every hacker wants more cycles: so he can spend less time
          waiting for the computer to respond.
       
          The use of the term "cycle" for a computer clock period can
          probably be traced back to the rotation of a generator
          generating alternating current though computers generally use
          a clock signal which is more like a {square wave}.
          Interestingly, the earliest mechanical calculators,
          e.g. Babbage's {Difference Engine}, really did have parts
          which rotated in true cycles.
       
          [{Jargon File}]
       
          (1997-09-30)