Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A steep bowl-shaped hollow occurring at the upper end of a mountain valley, especially one forming the head of a glacier or stream.
  • noun A ring; a circle.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A circus.
  • noun A circle; specifically, a circle regarded as inclosing any space or surrounding any object or group of objects.
  • noun Same as comb.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A circle; a circus; a circular erection or arrangement of objects.
  • noun A kind of circular valley in the side of a mountain, walled around by precipices of great height.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A curved depression in a mountainside with steep walls, forming the end of a valley.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a steep-walled semicircular basin in a mountain; may contain a lake

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, from Latin circus, circle; see circle.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French cirque, from Latin circus ("ring, circle"), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to turn, to bend”) .

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Examples

  • The show is distinctive from other "cirque" - style entertainment in that the dancers, jugglers, acrobats and contortionists, share the stage with a live orchestra.

    RNews - TOP STORIES 2009

  • The show is distinctive from other "cirque" - style entertainment in that the dancers, jugglers, acrobats and contortionists, share the stage with a live orchestra.

    RNews - TOP STORIES 2009

  • The show is distinctive from other "cirque" - style entertainment in that the dancers, jugglers, acrobats and contortionists, share the stage with a live orchestra.

    RNews - TOP STORIES 2009

  • The show is distinctive from other "cirque" - style entertainment in that the dancers, jugglers, acrobats and contortionists, share the stage with a live orchestra.

    RNews - TOP STORIES 2009

  • Paramount in Garuda's approach to "the cirque" is the use of technology.

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com Kia Makarechi 2012

  • In the visually creative "cirque" style, but with more of a Broadway feel.

    Big Top to Burlesque: 2008

  • There is "cirque" beyond Cirque du Soleil, however.

    Big Top to Burlesque: 2008

  • But above all else, it is the view to the Westward that we have come here to see – the famous "cirque" of the Croda Malcora.

    Untrodden Peaks and Unfrequented Valleys 1873

  • Although "cirque" is literally translated from the French as "circus," Streltsov makes a distinction.

    Kansas.com: -- Front 2009

  • "cirque" et de "grand-guignol" à propos du "grand emprunt" annoncé par Nicolas Sarkozy lors du Congrès de Versailles en juin dernier.

    European Tribune 2009

Comments

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  • A cirque is an amphitheatre-like valley, or valley head, formed at the head of a glacier by erosion. A cirque is also known as a cwm in Wales, a coomb or coombe in England, and a corrie in Scotland and Ireland, although these terms apply to a specific feature of which several may be found in a cirque.

    _Wikipedia

    January 26, 2008