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Compass; circuit; inclosure. In the circle of this forest. Shak.

A mean or inferior poet, perhaps from his habit of wandering around as a stroller; an itinerant poet. Also, a name given to the cyclic poets. See under Cyclic, a. [Obs.] B. Jonson.

. See Cyclic poets, under Cyclic. Had Virgil been a circular poet, and closely adhered to history, how could the Romans have had Dido Dennis.

A circle; anything circular. His ponderous shield . . . Behind him cast. The broad circumference Hung on his shoulders like the moon. Milton.

To pour round; to spread round. His army circumfused on either wing. Milton.

An event; a fact; a particular incident. The sculptor had in his thoughts the conqoeror weeping for new worlds, or the like circumstances in histery. Addison.

One who circumvents; one who gains his purpose by cunning.

The act of citing a passage from a book, or from another person, in his own words; also, the passage or words quoted; quotation. This horse load of citations and fathers. Milton.

peat, as a passage from a book, or the words of another. The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose. Shak.

; a freeman of a city, as distinguished from a foreigner, or one not entitled to its franchises. That large body of the working men who were not counted as citizens and had not so much as a vote to serve as an anodyne to their stomachs. G. Eliot.

t Britain, a town corporate, which is or has been the seat of a bishop, or the capital of his see. A city is a town incorporated; which is, or has been, the see of a bishop; and though the bishopric has been dissolved, as at Westminster, it yet remaineth a city. Blackstone When Gorges constituted York a city, he of cou…

Pertaining to a city or state, or to a citizen in his relations to his fellow citizens or to the state; within the city or state.

t or expression. The insolent civility of a proud man is, if possible, more shocking than his rudeness could be. Chesterfield. The sweet civilities of life. Dryden.

e rules and customs of civilization; to educate; to refine. Yet blest that fate which did his arms dispose Her land to civilize, as to subdue. Dryden

Continual or importunate talk; prattle; prating. Whose chief intent is to vaunt his spiritual clack. South. Clack box (Mach.), the box or chamber in which a clack valve works. -- Clack dish, a dish with a movable lid, formerly carried by beggars, who clacked the lid to attract notice. Shak. Clack door (Mining), remova…

tle; to have a claim. We must know how the first ruler, from whom any one claims, came by his authority. Locke.

me common interest or pursuit; -- sometimes used contemptuously. Partidge and the rest of his clan may hoot me. Smolett. The whole clan of the enlightened among us. Burke.

sound than clang, and a deeper and stronger sound than clink. But not in chains to pine, His spirit withered with tyeur clank. Byron.

A striking of hands to express approbation. Unextrected claps or hisses. Addison.

To make clear; to free from obscurities; to brighten or illuminate. To clarify his reason, and to rectify his will. South.