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n. 1. An interval of time during which a characteristic, often regularly repeated event or sequence of events occurs: Sunspots increase and decrease in intensity in an 11-year cycle. 2. a. A single complete execution of a periodically repeated phenomenon: A year constitutes a cycle of the seasons. b. A periodically repeated sequence of events: the cycle of birth, growth, and death; a cycle of reprisal and retaliation. 3. The orbit of a celestial body. 4. A long period of time; an age. 5. a. The aggregate of traditional poems or stories organized around a central theme or hero: the Arthurian cycle. b. A series of poems or songs on the same theme: Schubert's song cycles. 6. A bicycle, motorcycle, or similar vehicle. 7. Botany A circular or whorled arrangement of flower parts such as those of petals or sepals. 8. Baseball The achievement of hitting a single, double, triple, and home run in a single game. v. cy·cled, cy·cling, cy·cles v.intr. 1. To occur in or pass through a cycle. 2. To move in or as if in a cycle. 3. To ride a bicycle, motorcycle, or similar vehicle. v.tr. To use in or put through a cycle: cycled the heavily soiled laundry twice; cycling the recruits through eight weeks of basic training. [Middle English cicle, from Late Latin cyclus, from Greek kuklos, circle; see kwel-1 in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] cycler n. |
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