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Definition of circulate verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

circulate

verb
 
/ˈsɜːkjəleɪt/
 
/ˈsɜːrkjəleɪt/
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they circulate
 
/ˈsɜːkjəleɪt/
 
/ˈsɜːrkjəleɪt/
he / she / it circulates
 
/ˈsɜːkjəleɪts/
 
/ˈsɜːrkjəleɪts/
past simple circulated
 
/ˈsɜːkjəleɪtɪd/
 
/ˈsɜːrkjəleɪtɪd/
past participle circulated
 
/ˈsɜːkjəleɪtɪd/
 
/ˈsɜːrkjəleɪtɪd/
-ing form circulating
 
/ˈsɜːkjəleɪtɪŋ/
 
/ˈsɜːrkjəleɪtɪŋ/
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  1. [intransitive, transitive] when a liquid, gas or air circulates or is circulated, it moves continuously around a place or system
    • The condition prevents the blood from circulating freely.
    • circulate something Cooled air is circulated throughout the building.
    Extra Examples
    • Blood circulates through the arteries and veins.
    • The heart circulates blood around the body.
    • sugar circulating in the bloodstream
    • The condition prevents blood from circulating freely.
    Topics Biologyc1, Physics and chemistryc1
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb
    • freely
    preposition
    • around
    • round
    • in
    See full entry
  2. [intransitive, transitive] if a story, an idea, information, etc. circulates or if you circulate it, it spreads or it is passed from one person to another
    • Rumours began to circulate about his financial problems.
    • circulate around something There's a story circulating around the office that you are about to leave the company.
    • circulate among somebody the latest conspiracy theory circulating among some online communities
    • circulate something Who has been circulating these rumours?
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb
    • widely
    • freely
    preposition
    • among
    • around
    • round
    See full entry
  3. [transitive] to send goods or information to all the people in a group
    • circulate something They circulated a petition for his release.
    • The book was circulated widely in Russia.
    • circulate something to somebody The document will be circulated to all members.
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb
    • widely
    • freely
    preposition
    • among
    • around
    • round
    See full entry
  4. [intransitive] to move around a group, especially at a party, talking to different people
  5. Word Originlate 15th cent. (as an alchemical term meaning ‘distil something in a closed container, allowing condensed vapour to return to the original liquid’): from Latin circulat- ‘moved in a circular path’, from the verb circulare, from circulus ‘small ring’, diminutive of circus ‘ring’.Sense (1) dates from the mid 17th cent.
See circulate in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee circulate in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
dizzy
adjective
 
 
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