circus

A traveling company of performers that may include acrobats, clowns, trained animals, and other novelty acts, that gives shows usually in a circular tent.

The circus will be in town next week.

A round open space in a town or city where multiple streets meet.

Oxford Circus in London is at the north end of Regent Street.

A spectacle; a noisy fuss; a chaotic and/or crowded place.

The village would be turned into a circus over this. He groaned, it was just the sort of case the media had a field day over. He had to get the whole thing sorted fast before anyone got wind of it.

In the ancient Roman Empire, a building for chariot racing.

A code name for bomber attacks with fighter escorts in the day time. The attacks were against short-range targets with the intention of occupying enemy fighters and keeping their fighter units in the area concerned.

To take part in a circus; or to be displayed as if in a circus