Cycle
from
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)
cycle
n 1: an interval during which a recurring sequence of events
occurs; "the never-ending cycle of the seasons" [syn:
{cycle}, {rhythm}, {round}]
2: a series of poems or songs on the same theme; "Schubert's
song cycles"
3: a periodically repeated sequence of events; "a cycle of
reprisal and retaliation"
4: the unit of frequency; one hertz has a periodic interval of
one second [syn: {hertz}, {Hz}, {cycle per second},
{cycles/second}, {cps}, {cycle}]
5: a single complete execution of a periodically repeated
phenomenon; "a year constitutes a cycle of the seasons" [syn:
{cycle}, {oscillation}]
6: a wheeled vehicle that has two wheels and is moved by foot
pedals [syn: {bicycle}, {bike}, {wheel}, {cycle}]
v 1: cause to go through a recurring sequence; "cycle the
laundry in this washing program"
2: pass through a cycle; "This machine automatically cycles"
3: ride a motorcycle [syn: {motorbike}, {motorcycle}, {cycle}]
4: ride a bicycle [syn: {bicycle}, {cycle}, {bike}, {pedal},
{wheel}]
5: recur in repeating sequences
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Cycle \Cy"cle\ (s?"k'l), n. [F. ycle, LL. cyclus, fr. Gr.
ky`klos ring or circle, cycle; akin to Skr. cakra wheel,
circle. See {Wheel}.]
1. An imaginary circle or orbit in the heavens; one of the
celestial spheres. --Milton.
[1913 Webster]
2. An interval of time in which a certain succession of
events or phenomena is completed, and then returns again
and again, uniformly and continually in the same order; a
periodical space of time marked by the recurrence of
something peculiar; as, the cycle of the seasons, or of
the year.
[1913 Webster]
Wages . . . bear a full proportion . . . to the
medium of provision during the last bad cycle of
twenty years. --Burke.
[1913 Webster]
3. An age; a long period of time.
[1913 Webster]
Better fifty years of Europe than a cycle of Cathay.
--Tennyson.
[1913 Webster]
4. An orderly list for a given time; a calendar. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
We . . . present our gardeners with a complete cycle
of what is requisite to be done throughout every
month of the year. --Evelyn.
[1913 Webster]
5. The circle of subjects connected with the exploits of the
hero or heroes of some particular period which have served
as a popular theme for poetry, as the legend of Arthur and
the knights of the Round Table, and that of Charlemagne
and his paladins.
[1913 Webster]
6. (Bot.) One entire round in a circle or a spire; as, a
cycle or set of leaves. --Gray.
[1913 Webster]
7. A bicycle or tricycle, or other light velocipede.
[1913 Webster]
8. A motorcycle.
[PJC]
9. (Thermodynamics) A series of operations in which heat is
imparted to (or taken away from) a working substance which
by its expansion gives up a part of its internal energy in
the form of mechanical work (or being compressed increases
its internal energy) and is again brought back to its
original state.
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]
10. (Technology) A complete positive and negative, or forward
and reverse, action of any periodic process, such as a
vibration, an electric field oscillation, or a current
alternation; one period. Hence: (Elec.) A complete
positive and negative wave of an alternating current. The
number of cycles (per second) is a measure of the
frequency of an alternating current.
[Webster 1913 Suppl. + PJC]
{Calippic cycle}, a period of 76 years, or four Metonic
cycles; -- so called from Calippus, who proposed it as an
improvement on the Metonic cycle.
{Cycle of eclipses}, a period of about 6,586 days, the time
of revolution of the moon's node; -- called {Saros} by the
Chaldeans.
{Cycle of indiction}, a period of 15 years, employed in Roman
and ecclesiastical chronology, not founded on any
astronomical period, but having reference to certain
judicial acts which took place at stated epochs under the
Greek emperors.
{Cycle of the moon}, or {Metonic cycle}, a period of 19
years, after the lapse of which the new and full moon
returns to the same day of the year; -- so called from
Meton, who first proposed it.
{Cycle of the sun}, {Solar cycle}, a period of 28 years, at
the end of which time the days of the month return to the
same days of the week. The dominical or Sunday letter
follows the same order; hence the solar cycle is also
called the {cycle of the Sunday letter}. In the Gregorian
calendar the solar cycle is in general interrupted at the
end of the century.
[1913 Webster]
from
Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003)
cycle
1. n. The basic unit of computation. What every hacker wants more of
(noted hacker Bill Gosper described himself as a "cycle junkie"). One
can describe an instruction as taking so many clock cycles. Often the
computer can access its memory once on every clock cycle, and so one
speaks also of memory cycles. These are technical meanings of {cycle}.
The jargon meaning comes from the observation that there are only so
many cycles per second, and when you are sharing a computer the cycles
get divided up among the users. The more cycles the computer spends
working on your program rather than someone else's, the faster your
program will run. That's why every hacker wants more cycles: so he can
spend less time waiting for the computer to respond.
2. By extension, a notional unit of human thought power, emphasizing
that lots of things compete for the typical hacker's think time. "I
refused to get involved with the Rubik's Cube back when it was big.
Knew I'd burn too many cycles on it if I let myself."
3. vt. Syn. {bounce} (sense 4), from the phrase `cycle power'. "Cycle
the machine again, that serial port's still hung."
from
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
cycle
<unit> A basic unit of computation, one period of a computer
{clock}.
Each {instruction} takes a number of clock cycles. Often the
computer can access its memory once on every clock cycle, and
so one speaks also of "memory cycles".
Every {hacker} wants more cycles (noted hacker {Bill Gosper}
describes himself as a "cycle junkie"). There are only so
many cycles per second, and when you are sharing a computer
the cycles get divided up among the users. The more cycles
the computer spends working on your program rather than
someone else's, the faster your program will run. That's why
every hacker wants more cycles: so he can spend less time
waiting for the computer to respond.
The use of the term "cycle" for a computer clock period can
probably be traced back to the rotation of a generator
generating alternating current though computers generally use
a clock signal which is more like a {square wave}.
Interestingly, the earliest mechanical calculators,
e.g. Babbage's {Difference Engine}, really did have parts
which rotated in true cycles.
[{Jargon File}]
(1997-09-30)
from
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
291 Moby Thesaurus words for "cycle":
AC, AF, CPS, DC, EHF, HF, Hz, Indian file, Kekule formula, MF, O,
Platonic year, RF, SHF, UHF, VHF, VLF, absorption current,
active current, aeon, age, alternate, alternating current, ambit,
annular muscle, annulus, annus magnus, areola, array, arsis,
articulation, atomic cluster, audio frequency, aureole, bank,
be here again, beat, benzene ring, bicycle, bicycle-built-for-two,
bike, bout, branched chain, bus, buzz, carrier frequency,
catch a train, catena, catenation, chain, chain reaction, chaining,
chaplet, chauffeur, chopper, circle, circuit, circuiteer,
circulate, circumambulate, circumference, circummigrate,
circumnavigate, circumvent, circus, close the circle, closed chain,
closed circle, come again, come and go, come around,
come full circle, come round, come round again, come up again,
compass, compound radical, concatenation, conduction current,
connection, consecution, continuum, convection current, corona,
coronet, course, crown, cycle of indiction, cycles, date, day,
delta current, descent, describe a circle, diadem, diastole,
dielectric displacement current, direct current, discus, disk,
displacement current, downbeat, drive, drone, eddy current,
electric current, electric stream, emission current, encircle,
encompass, endless belt, endless round, entrain, eternal return,
exciting current, extremely high frequency, fairy ring, file,
filiation, flank, free alternating current, frequency,
frequency spectrum, full circle, galvanic current, gamut, garland,
generation, girdle, girdle the globe, glory, go about, go around,
go by rail, go round, go the round, gradation, great year, gyre,
halo, hertz, heterocycle, high frequency, high-frequency current,
homocycle, hum, idle current, indiction, induced current,
induction current, intermediate frequency, intermit,
ionization current, iron, joyride, juice, kilocycles, kilohertz,
lap, lasso, lattice, line, lineage, logical circle, loop, looplet,
low frequency, low-frequency current, lower frequencies,
magic circle, magnetizing current, make a circuit, make a train,
medium frequency, megacycles, megahertz, minibike, molecule,
monocycle, monotone, motocycle, motor, motorbike, motorcycle,
multiphase current, nexus, noose, orbit, oscillate, pattern, pedal,
pedicab, pendulum, periodicity, pig, plenum, powder train,
progression, pulsate, pulsating direct current, pulse, queue,
radical, radio frequency, radius, range, rank, reactive current,
reappear, recur, recurrence, recycle, reoccur, repeat,
reticulation, return, revolution, revolve, ride, ring, road-bike,
roll around, rondelle, rotary current, rotate, rotation, round,
round trip, roundel, rounds, routine, row, run, saucer, scale,
scooter, sequel, sequence, series, side chain, sidewalk bike,
simple radical, single file, single-phase alternating current,
skirt, space-lattice, spark frequency, spectrum, spell, sphincter,
spiral, straight chain, stray current, string, succession,
superhigh frequency, surround, swath, systole, take a joyride,
tandem, taxi, thermionic current, thermoelectric current, thesis,
thread, three-phase alternating current, tier, time, tour,
trail bike, train, tricycle, trike, turn, two-wheeler,
ultrahigh frequency, undulate, upbeat, upper frequencies,
velocipede, very high frequency, very low frequency,
vicious circle, voltaic current, walk, watt current, wheel,
wheel around, windrow, wreath
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