- a large public entertainment, typically presented in one or more very large tents or in an outdoor or indoor arena, featuring exhibitions of pageantry, feats of skill and daring, performing animals, etc., interspersed throughout with the slapstick antics of clowns.
- a troupe of performers, especially a traveling troupe, that presents such entertainments, together with officials, other employees, and the company's performing animals, traveling wagons, tents, cages, and equipment.
- anything resembling such public entertainments, as an event or activity that is wildly active, disordered, sensational, etc.: That whole trial was a circus.
- a circular arena surrounded by tiers of seats, in which public entertainments are held; arena.
- (in ancient Rome)
- a large, usually oblong or oval, roofless enclosure, surrounded by tiers of seats rising one above another, for chariot races, public games, etc.
- an entertainment given in this Roman arena, as a chariot race or public game: The Caesars appeased the public with bread and circuses.
- anything resembling the Roman circus, or arena, as a natural amphitheater or a circular range of houses.
- flying circus.
- an open circle, square, or plaza where several streets converge: Piccadilly Circus.
- a circlet or ring.
- a travelling company of entertainers such as acrobats, clowns, trapeze artistes, and trained animals
- a public performance given by such a company
- an oval or circular arena, usually tented and surrounded by tiers of seats, in which such a performance is held
- a travelling group of professional sportsmen
- (in ancient Rome)
- an open-air stadium, usually oval or oblong, for chariot races or public games
- the games themselves
- British
- an open place, usually circular, in a town, where several streets converge
- (capital when part of a name)
- noisy or rowdy behaviour
- a person or group of people whose behaviour is wild, disorganized, or (esp unintentionally) comic
