Spanish words for "loop"

Question

I was recently reading a review of a Spanish-English dictionary that picked "loop" as a good example of a word with many possible translations into Spanish. I looked around and found several possibilities:

• presilla
• lazo
• lazada
• curva
• meandro
• rizo
• bucle
• circuito
• círculo
• vuelta

What specifically do each of these words refer to, and what contexts would you use it in? Which is the best, generic word for "loop" (essentially, something in the shape of a circle)?

Answer 1

• Presilla refers to a buttonhole made with cord.
• Lazo and lazada refers to a knot.
• Curva is a curve (no kidding), which can be understood as a loop depending on the context but is very rare.
• Meandro is each one of the corners that a river forms, as far as I know is never used to refer to a loop.
• Rizo and bucle are used to describe a loop in the hair.
• Circuito can be used, for example, to refeer to a racetrack or an avenue. However, its most common use is for electrical circuits.
• Círculo corresponds to the geometric figure (circle).
• Vuelta is a loop around something (like a racetrack, a block, a park, etc).
• For computational purposes, loop can be translated as bucle or ciclo.

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However, depending on the country, all of the above words can have little variations in their meaning, my explanation refers to Mexican Spanish. For the purposes of your question, I would suggest círculo as the most generic word.

Answer 2

tambien puede significar ciclo