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circulate

/ˈsərkjəleɪt/

/ˈsəkjəleɪt/

Other forms: circulated; circulating; circulates

To circulate is to move continuously in a specific circuit, often in a circle. A ceiling fan circulates cool air around the room on a warm day.

Blood circulates through your body, pumped from your heart through veins and arteries — your circulatory system — and delivering oxygen to your tissues. This system is closed, meaning the blood stays in your body, bringing oxygenated blood back to your heart. People circulate when they move around a room at a party, chatting with different people, and rumors circulate when they're passed in a circle, from person to person. Circulate comes from the Latin circulare, "to form a circle."

Definitions of circulate
  1. verb
    move through a space, circuit or system, returning to the starting point
    “Blood circulates in my veins”
    “The air here does not circulate
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    types:
    ventilate
    circulate through and freshen
    type of:
    course, feed, flow, run
    move along, of liquids
  2. verb
    move in circles
    synonyms: circle
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    types:
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    orb, orbit, revolve
    move in an orbit
    troll
    circulate, move around
    loop
    fly loops, perform a loop
    loop
    move in loops
    retrograde
    move backward in an orbit, of celestial bodies
    type of:
    go, locomote, move, travel
    change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
  3. verb
    move around freely
    “She circulates among royalty”
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    types:
    drift
    move in an unhurried fashion
    type of:
    go, locomote, move, travel
    change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
  4. verb
    cause to move in a circuit or system
    “The fan circulates the air in the room”
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    types:
    convect
    circulate hot air by convection
    type of:
    displace, move
    cause to move or shift into a new position or place, both in a concrete and in an abstract sense
  5. verb
    cause to move around
    circulate a rumor”
    synonyms: mobilise, mobilize
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    type of:
    displace, move
    cause to move or shift into a new position or place, both in a concrete and in an abstract sense
  6. verb
    cause to be distributed
    “This letter is being circulated among the faculty”
    synonyms: distribute, pass around, pass on
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    types:
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    send around
    forward to others
    utter
    put into circulation
    scatter, spread, spread out
    strew or distribute over an area
    circularise, circularize
    distribute circulars to
    manure, muck
    spread manure, as for fertilization
    birdlime, lime
    spread birdlime on branches to catch birds
    circumfuse
    spread something around something
    distribute
    spread throughout a given area
    type of:
    displace, move
    cause to move or shift into a new position or place, both in a concrete and in an abstract sense
  7. verb
    become widely known and passed on
    synonyms: go around, spread
    broadcast, circularise, circularize, diffuse, disperse, disseminate, distribute, pass around, propagate, spread
    cause to become widely known
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    type of:
    go, locomote, move, travel
    change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
  8. verb
    cause to become widely known
    circulate a rumor”
    synonyms: broadcast, circularise, circularize, diffuse, disperse, disseminate, distribute, pass around, propagate, spread
    go around, spread
    become widely known and passed on
    see moresee less
    types:
    show 4 types...
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    podcast
    distribute (multimedia files) over the internet for playback on a mobile device or a personal computer
    sow
    introduce into an environment
    generalise, generalize, popularise, popularize, vulgarise, vulgarize
    cater to popular taste to make popular and present to the general public; bring into general or common use
    carry, run
    include as the content; broadcast or publicize
    type of:
    air, bare, publicise, publicize
    make public
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