an establishment consisting of a building or complex of buildings where an organization for the promotion of some cause is situated
a custom that for a long time has been an important feature of some group or society; "the institution of marriage"; "the institution of slavery"; "he had become an institution in the theater"
an organization founded and united for a specific purpose
performance given by a traveling company of acrobats clowns and trained animals; "the children always love to go to the circus"
a frenetic disorganized (and often comic) disturbance suggestive of a large public entertainment; "it was so funny it was a circus"; "the whole occasion had a carnival atmosphere"
a genus of haws comprising the harriers
an arena consisting of an oval or circular area enclosed by tiers of seats and usually covered by a tent; "they used the elephants to help put up the circus"
(antiquity) an open-air stadium for chariot races and gladiatorial games
a travelling company of entertainers; including trained animals; "he ran away from home to join the circus"
(computer science) the area of the screen in graphical user interfaces against which icons and windows appear
a person's social heritage: previous experience or training; "he is a lawyer with a sports background"
information that is essential to understanding a situation or problem; "the embassy filled him in on the background of the incident"
the part of a scene (or picture) that lies behind objects in the foreground; "he posed her against a background of rolling hills"
relatively unimportant or inconspicuous accompanying situation; "when the rain came he could hear the sound of thunder in the background"
extraneous signals that can be confused with the phenomenon to be observed or measured; "they got a bad connection and could hardly hear one another over the background signals"
understate the importance or quality of; "he played down his royal ancestry"
a raised horizontal surface; "the speaker mounted the platform"
any military structure or vehicle bearing weapons
the combination of a particular computer and a particular operating system
a document stating the aims and principles of a political party; "their candidate simply ignored the party platform"; "they won the election even though they offered no positive program"
furnishings that make a room or other area ready for occupancy; "they had too much furniture for the small apartment"; "there was only one piece of furniture in the room"
(religion) sanctification of something by setting it apart (usually with religious rites) as dedicated to God; "the Cardinal attended the consecration of the church"
a solemn commitment of your life or your time to some cherished purpose (to a service or a goal); "his consecration to study"
(Roman Catholic Church) an act of the Pope who declares that a deceased person lived a holy life and is worthy of public veneration; a first step toward canonization
the action of rendering supremely blessed and extremely happy
graphic art consisting of the graphic or photographic representation of a visual percept; "he painted scenes from everyday life"; "figure 2 shows photographic and schematic views of the equipment"
a consecutive series of pictures that constitutes a unit of action in a film
a subdivision of an act of a play; "the first act has three scenes"
an incident (real or imaginary); "their parting was a sad scene"
the place where some action occurs; "the police returned to the scene of the crime"