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Definition of cycle noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

cycle

noun
 
/ˈsaɪkl/
 
/ˈsaɪkl/
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  1. a bicycle or motorcycle
    • He was riding his cycle home when he was hit by a lorry.
    • We went for a cycle ride on Sunday.
    • on a cycle Lots of people arrived in cars or on cycles.
    • by cycle They completed their journey by cycle.
    see also bikeTopics Transport by car or lorrya2, Sports: other sportsa2
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • motor
    • pedal
    verb + cycle
    • ride
    cycle + noun
    • ride
    • helmet
    • lane
    See full entry
  2. cycle (of something) the fact of a series of events being repeated many times, always in the same order
    • Every business goes through cycles.
    • cycle of something the cycle of the seasons
    • The argument is that reprisals simply perpetuate the cycle of violence.
    • They could not break the cycle of harvest failure, food shortage, price increase and misery.
    • in a cycle Front runners generally establish themselves early in the election cycle.
    • The percentage of companies being downgraded was typical for this point in the economic cycle.
    • different phases of the cell cycle
    see also business cycle, carbon cycle, life cycle, lunar cycle, menstrual cycle, news cycle, nitrogen cycle, water cycle
    Extra Examples
    • Life is a natural cycle, just like the changing seasons.
    • Male and female adults mate, the female lays eggs, and the cycle begins all over again.
    • The European market is simply going through an economic cycle.
    • The number of young produced per breeding cycle varies from species to species.
    • This cycle of events continually repeats itself.
    • To complete the cycle, oxygen is necessary.
    • at this point in the cycle
    • caught up in a vicious cycle of bingeing and dieting
    • part of the cycle of birth and death
    • the 76-year solar cycle
    • the annual cycle of church festivals
    Topics Moneyb1, Biologyb1
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • annual
    • daily
    • monthly
    verb + cycle
    • follow
    • go through
    • complete
    cycle + verb
    • begin again
    • continue
    • repeat (itself)
    cycle + noun
    • length
    • time
    preposition
    • in a/​the cycle
    • per cycle
    phrases
    • a cycle of abuse, poverty, violence, etc.
    • part of the cycle (of something)
    See full entry
  3. a complete set or series, for example of movements in a machine
    • eight cycles per second
    • the rinse cycle (= in a washing machine)
    see also song cycleTopics Engineeringb2
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • annual
    • daily
    • monthly
    verb + cycle
    • follow
    • go through
    • complete
    cycle + verb
    • begin again
    • continue
    • repeat (itself)
    cycle + noun
    • length
    • time
    preposition
    • in a/​the cycle
    • per cycle
    phrases
    • a cycle of abuse, poverty, violence, etc.
    • part of the cycle (of something)
    See full entry
  4. Word Originlate Middle English: from Old French, from late Latin cyclus, from Greek kuklos ‘circle’.
See cycle in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee cycle in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
trait
noun
 
 
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