three-ring circus

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three-ring circus (plural three-ring circuses)

1. A large circus in which three separate performances, each within its own circular enclosure, are staged simultaneously before a single audience.
2. (idiomatic, by extension) A disorderly, complicated, rapidly changing situation or set of events, which is a source of bewilderment, amazement, or amusement.
   • 1963 February 22, “Sport: Look! Another Record”, in Time:

     Indoor track can be a three-ring circus, with so much going on in the space of a few evening hours that the fans hardly know where to look first.

   • 1997 November 1, Kim Sengupta, “Nanny Trial: Sharp contrast in US justice style”, in The Independent, UK, retrieved 28 June 2012:

     British television viewers had seen how proceedings in US courtrooms can almost turn into a three-ring circus during the OJ Simpson trial.

   • 2011 April 1, Rachel Donadio, “Rude and Crude Behavior Stains Italian Parliament”, in New York Times, retrieved 28 June 2012:

     The Italian Parliament has long been a three-ring circus.

• (idiomatic: disorderly, complicated, rapidly changing situation): commotion, pandemonium

• “three-ring circus”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.