What (who) is cycle - definition

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Cyclic; -cycle; Cycles; Cyclical; Cycle (mathematics); Cycles (album); Cycle (Movie); Cycle (disambiguation); Cycle (film)

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)

cycle

¦ noun

1. a series of events that are regularly repeated in the same order.

the period of time taken to complete a single such series.

2. one complete sequence of changes associated with a recurring phenomenon such as an alternating current, wave, etc.

Physics a cycle per second; one hertz.

Ecology the movement of a simple substance through the soil, rocks, water, atmosphere, and living organisms of the earth: the carbon cycle.

3. a series of musical or literary works composed around a particular theme.

4. a bicycle.

a ride on a bicycle: a 112-mile cycle.

¦ verb

1. ride a bicycle.

2. move in or follow a cycle of events.

Derivatives

cycler noun

cycling noun

cyclist noun

Origin

ME: from OFr., from late L. cyclus, from Gk kuklos 'circle'.

Cycle

·noun An age; a long period of time.

II. Cycle ·noun An orderly list for a given time; a calendar.

III. Cycle ·noun A bicycle or tricycle, or other light velocipede.

IV. Cycle ·vi To ride a bicycle, tricycle, or other form of cycle.

V. Cycle ·vi To pass through a cycle of changes; to recur in cycles.

VI. Cycle ·noun One entire round in a circle or a spire; as, a cycle or set of leaves.

VII. Cycle ·noun An imaginary circle or orbit in the heavens; one of the celestial spheres.

VIII. Cycle ·add. ·noun A complete positive and negative wave of an alternating current; one period. The number of cycles (per second) is a measure of the frequency of an alternating current.

IX. Cycle ·noun 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.

X. Cycle ·noun 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.

XI. Cycle ·add. ·noun 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.