The Mappined Life" likens urban society to the circumscribed world of animals in a zoo.

But I lived in a very circumscribed world.

We have here the makings of farce - the circumscribed world of a summer house, sexual mischief, the socially alien daughter-in-law.

They show how fragile the circumscribed world of manners can be.

They're singing their souls from the stage, drawing us out of our own circumscribed worlds and into theirs.

The production sets up its own circumscribed world within which small details take on large significance.

But rather than get involved, Jen only retreated further into the circumscribed world of thought.

His guest owed much to his ailing senior, but these ideologues lived in their own little circumscribed world.

And postgame discussions among players tend to be as focused on the circumscribed world at hand as they are, say, in basketball.

But Ms. Mason instead displays an enduring affection for them and their circumscribed world.