crop circle

noun

: a geometric and especially a circular pattern of flattened stalks in a field of grain now usually attributed to natural phenomena or to the work of hoaxers trying to create the impression of a visit by extraterrestrial beings

Examples of crop circle in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Wheeled trusses that once were part of irrigation pivots — those rotating mechanisms that create crop circles — are repurposed as light poles in the parking lot. John Meyer, The Denver Post, 5 Feb. 2024 The Market Street crop circle extension was promised to be completed before one house in Stone Gate was started. For Carroll County Times, Baltimore Sun, 21 Jan. 2024 After a series of crop circles mysteriously appear in his cornfield, former priest Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) investigates and comes to discover that extraterrestrials may be responsible. Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 27 Nov. 2023 In 2016, the Chamber of Deputies received him following an invitation by a deputy from PRI, another political party, for a hearing focused on geometric figures, including crop circles, that appear traced in fields and are often called agroglyphs. WIRED, 14 Sep. 2023 The results can be startling, as when the artist produces a sort of board game in which such conspiracy-buff tropes as crop circles, crisis actors and Pizzagate are lettered around a core filled with churning internal organs. Mark Jenkins, Washington Post, 17 Mar. 2023 Now it’s known that male pufferfish create the crop circle-like designs in the sand to attract a mate. Johanna Read, Forbes, 29 June 2021 Efrem Lukatsky’s from-on-high view of a crater left in an agricultural field by a Russian missile might look at first glance like a crop circle. Mark Feeney, BostonGlobe.com, 28 Feb. 2023 That crop circle looks like a gigantic eye, which might be of narrative significance. Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 22 Oct. 2021

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'crop circle.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1988, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of crop circle was in 1988

Dictionary Entries Near crop circle

Cite this Entry

“Crop circle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crop%20circle. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

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