Definition of "circus" []

• A public entertainment consisting typically of a variety of performances by acrobats, clowns, and trained animals. (noun)
• A traveling company that performs such entertainments. (noun)
• A circular arena, surrounded by tiers of seats and often covered by a tent, in which such shows are performed. (noun)
• A roofless oval enclosure surrounded by tiers of seats that was used in antiquity for public spectacles. (noun)
• Chiefly British An open circular place where several streets intersect. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Easily lost in this circus is the careful work that members of Congress do in holding hearings, passing legislation, and taking care of problems brought to their attention by constituents and the press."
• "A surefire sign that the circus is almost over: they send in the clowns, and McConnell is a clown extraordinaire."
• "Then that blends with what I call circus, which a modern critic would call an amusement-park ride, which is, you know, the gladiators, or horse races, or football teams, or things like that, which are exciting and are emotional."