- cycle
- cycle cy‧cle [ˈsaɪkl] noun [countable]a series of events that happen in an order that regularly repeats itself:
• Approved Training Practices are monitored by the Association on a five-year cycle.
ˈbilling ˌcycle ACCOUNTINGthe usual time that is taken between sending a customer a list of the amount of money owed for goods or services and the money being received, taking into account the amount of time allowed to customers to pay:• The monthly billing cycle usually begins on the day that the customer signs up for a service and ends the day before the same day the following month.
a cycle in which business activity increases, decreases, then increases againˈjob ˌcycle MANUFACTURINGa cycle in which all the main tasks of a particular job are done:• The aim is to maximise the number of cars produced during each shift by reducing the job cycle time.
a cycle in which trade increases, decreases, then increases again:* * *
cycle UK US /ˈsaɪkl/ noun [C]► a group of events that happen in a particular order, one following the other, and often repeated: »Interest rates tend to move in cycles.
»Spending quickly becomes a vicious cycle - the more you have the more you spend.
► ECONOMICS a pattern of successful periods followed by less successful periods that often happens in an industry, a market, a business, etc.: »Normally, the business has cycles, and every 10 years it peaks.
»If you sell goods in a seasonal industry, then cycles of consumer demand are an important dimension of your environment.
boom-and-bust/market cycles »Security prices tend to move up and down over various market cycles and logic says to invest when prices are low.
»The company's markets had passed the bottom of the cycle and were slowly growing again.
► ECONOMICS a single successful period, period of failure, etc. that is part of a regular series: a boom/down cycle »The country is still in a boom cycle.
»The market is still in its growth cycle.
a cycle of debt/poverty »The Credit Union tries to wean borrowers off the cycle of debt by offering financial counseling and payment plans.
► a regular period of time during which an activity, job, etc. is done: »a two-year/3-month/annual, etc. cycle
»a budget/planning/sales cycle
product/product-development cycles »They work to shorten product-development cycles and to boost manufacturing productivity.
→ See also THE ACCOUNTING CYCLE(Cf. ↑the accounting cycle), BILLING CYCLE(Cf. ↑billing cycle), BUSINESS CYCLE(Cf. ↑business cycle), FAMILY LIFE CYCLE(Cf. ↑family life cycle), JOB CYCLE(Cf. ↑job cycle), KONDRATIEFF CYCLE(Cf. ↑Kondratieff cycle), LIFE CYCLE(Cf. ↑life cycle)
Financial and business terms. 2012.
