[f. as prec. + -ING2.] That circulates, in various senses.
1632. Lithgow, Trav., IX. 414. A commodious place lying in the midst of circulating Prouinces.
1649. Milton, Eikon., 188. The old circulating dance of his shifts and evasions.
1665. Phil. Trans., I. 76. The circulating blood.
1819. Byron, Juan, I. 190. One of the most circulating scandals That had for centuries been known.
1841–71. T. R. Jones, Anim. King. (ed. 4), 433. The circulating fluid … was brought to the roots of the branchiæ.
b. Special combs. (in some of these the ppl. a. is not clearly distinguished from the vbl. sb.): Circulating capital (see CAPITAL sb.2 3 c). Circulating cistern, a cistern used in connection with the circulation of hot water through a system of pipes. Circulating decimal: a decimal fraction in which two or more figures are repeated ad infinitum. Circulating library: a library of which the books are circulated among subscribers. Circulating medium: a medium of exchange, whether gold, silver, or any other article. Circulating pump (see quot.). Circulating system: see CIRCULATORY a. 1.
1742. (Advt.) June 12 Proposals for erecting a Public Circulating Library in LONDON … Librarian, Samuel Fancourt.
1768. Robertson (title), Circulating Decimals, in Phil. Trans., LVIII. 207. It is usual to mark the first and last of circulating expressions, with points over the figures.
1775. Sheridan, Rivals, II. ii. A circulating library … is an evergreen tree of diabolical knowledge!
1783. Gentl. Mag., 941. Heard that the first circulating library was opened by the Rev. Mr. Fancourt … 50 or 60 years ago … it was afterwards removed to Crane-court, Fleet-street.
1776. Adam Smith, W. N., I. II. i. 280. No fixed capital can yield any revenue but by means of a circulating capital.
1798. Malthus, Popul. (1817), II. 330. The increase of the circulating medium.
1801. Duncan’s Annals Med., VI. 177. The Vascular and Circulating system.
1806–7. J. Beresford, Miseries Hum. Life (1826), XVII. i. 120. The circulating library, where nothing circulates—but the catalogue!
1809. R. Langford, Introd. Trade, 131. Circulating medium, cash and notes payable on demand.
1838. Penny Cycl., X. 402/1. When a decimal fraction cannot be found exactly equal to a given common fraction, the division by which the numerator is found, leads to what is called a Circulating Decimal.
1848. Mill, Pol. Econ., I. ix. (1876), 83. By the adoption of machinery a circulating capital … has been converted into a fixed capital.
1862. Ruskin, Munera Pulv. (1880), 63. The nation … has little occasion for circulating media.
1864. Times, 5 Sept., 12/2 (L.). Monarchy, republic, empire; King Log, anarchy, and King Stork; over and over again like a circulating decimal that goes on repeating itself for ever.
1874. Knight, Dict. Mech., s.v. Circulating-pump, the cold-water pump by which condensation water is drawn from the sea, river, or well, and driven through the casing of a surface condenser.
1884. Health Exhib. Catal., 94/1. Hot Water Circulating Cistern.
