Definitions

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

  • noun Movement in a circle or circuit, especially the movement of blood through bodily vessels as a result of the heart's pumping action.
  • noun Movement or passage through a system of vessels, as of water through pipes; flow.
  • noun Free movement or passage.
  • noun The passing of something, such as money or news, from place to place or person to person.
  • noun The condition of being passed about and widely known; distribution.
  • noun Dissemination of printed material, especially copies of newspapers or magazines, among readers.
  • noun The number of copies of a publication sold or distributed.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The act of circulating or moving in a circle or circuit; movement in such a manner as to go forth and return to the starting-point: as, the circulation of the blood (see phrases below).
  • noun The act or state of being diffused or distributed; the act of passing from point to point or from person to person; diffusion: as, the circulation of sap in a tree; the circulation of money; the circulation of a piece of news.
  • noun The extent to which a thing circulates or is diffused or distributed: as, the circulation of the two periodicals was about 300,000 copies.
  • noun A repetition of a series of things or events in the same order.
  • noun The amount of coin, notes, bills, etc., in actual use as currency: as, the circulation of the national banks.
  • noun In chem., the repeated vaporization and condensation of a substance in distillation.
  • noun In mathematics, the amount of flow round a closed path or circuit; the line-integral round a closed curve of the component velocity of a fluid along the curve.

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

  • noun The act of moving in a circle, or in a course which brings the moving body to the place where its motion began.
  • noun The act of passing from place to place or person to person; free diffusion; transmission.
  • noun Currency; circulating coin; notes, bills, etc., current for coin.
  • noun The extent to which anything circulates or is circulated; the measure of diffusion.
  • noun (Physiol.) The movement of the blood in the blood-vascular system, by which it is brought into close relations with almost every living elementary constituent. Also, the movement of the sap in the vessels and tissues of plants.

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

  • noun The act of moving in a circle, or in a course which brings the moving body to the place where its motion began.
  • noun The act of passing from place to place or person to person; free diffusion; transmission.
  • noun Currency; circulating coin; notes, bills, etc., current for coin.
  • noun The extent to which anything circulates or is circulated; the measure of diffusion; as, the circulation of a newspaper.
  • noun The movement of the blood in the blood-vascular system, by which it is brought into close relations with almost every living elementary constituent. Also the movement of the sap in the vessels and tissues of plants.

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

  • noun the dissemination of copies of periodicals (as newspapers or magazines)
  • noun number of copies of a newspaper or magazine that are sold
  • noun movement through a circuit; especially the movement of blood through the heart and blood vessels
  • noun (library science) the count of books that are loaned by a library over a specified period
  • noun free movement or passage (as of cytoplasm within a cell or sap through a plant)
  • noun the spread or transmission of something (as news or money) to a wider group or area

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

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Examples

  • This long-established paper has now nearly completed its thirty-second volume, and notwithstanding the severe calamities in which the country is involved, and which tax most heavily in men and money those States in which its circulation is largest, it is nearing the close of another eventful year with its _circulation unimpaired_ -- a matter of special gratification, as showing that its course, in these trying times, has been generally approved, and that it has been more widely useful than ever the past year, by its firm and cordial support of the Government when assailed by a wicked rebellion.

    The Continental Monthly, Vol. 2 No 4, October, 1862 Devoted To Literature And National Policy Various

  • Although less than 1/100th of one percent of the value of all U.S. currency in circulation is reported counterfeit, the $100 note is the most widely circulated and most often counterfeited denomination outside the U.S.

    New $100 Bill Uses 3D Technology to Stay Ahead of Counterfeiters | Impact Lab 2010

  • I do agree out laws are overly restrictive now but anything to combat the increasing number of guns in circulation is worth trying.

    Guns Kill People ( Shock News) Newmania 2007

  • I do agree out laws are overly restrictive now but anything to combat the increasing number of guns in circulation is worth trying

    Guns Kill People ( Shock News) Newmania 2007

  • Most of the ‘money’ in circulation is not physical money, cash and coins.

    Blog De Ganz | Archive | September 2005

  • The stomach digests the food, and separates the nutriment — chyle — from the aliment, which it gives to the blood for the development of the frame; and the blood, which is understood by the term circulation, digests in its passage through the lungs the nutriment — chyle — to give it quantity and quality, and the oxygen from the air to give it vitality.

    The Book of Household Management Isabella Mary 1861

  • The stomach digests the food, and separates the nutriment — chyle — from the aliment, which it gives to the blood for the development of the frame; and the blood, which is understood by the term circulation, digests in its passage through the lungs the nutriment — chyle — to give it quantity and quality, and the oxygen from the air to give it vitality.

    The Book of Household Management Isabella Mary 1861

  • Plus it keeps the money in circulation, which is the main thing .

    Archive 2009-02-01 Dungeekin 2009

  • Plus it keeps the money in circulation, which is the main thing .

    Haulage Industry Reports Increased Traffic Dungeekin 2009

  • A British newspaper, The Guardian, which has covered the scandal at The News of the World with vigor, followed up on Thursday by reporting that Mr. Langhoff's forays into The Journal newsroom were only a small part of what it referred to as a circulation "scam."

    NYT > Home Page By ERIC PFANNER 2011

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