Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - circulate

(circulates, circulating, circulated) 1. If a piece of writing circulates or is circulated, copies of it are passed round among a group of people. The document was previously circulated in New York at the United Nations... Public employees, teachers and liberals are circulating a petition for his recall... This year anonymous leaflets have been circulating in Peking. VERB: be V-ed, V n, V • circulation ...an inquiry into the circulation of ‘unacceptable literature’. N-UNCOUNT: usu the N of n 2. If something such as a rumour circulates or is circulated, the people in a place tell it to each other. Rumours were already beginning to circulate that the project might have to be abandoned... I deeply resented those sort of rumours being circulated at a time of deeply personal grief. = spread VERB: V, be V-ed, also V n 3. When something circulates, it moves easily and freely within a closed place or system. ...a virus which circulates via the bloodstream and causes ill health in a variety of organs... Cooking odors can circulate throughout the entire house. VERB: V, V, also V prep • circulation The north pole is warmer than the south and the circulation of air around it is less well contained. ...the principle of free circulation of goods. N-UNCOUNT 4. If you circulate at a party, you move among the guests and talk to different people. Let me get you something to drink, then I must circulate. VERB: V