Plain English Meaning
An instrument approach that gets you down to the airport area, but not lined up with a runway. Once you have the airport in sight, you fly a visual pattern around it and land.
Full Definition
An instrument approach procedure that publishes only circling minimums, with no straight-in landing minimums available. The final approach course is not aligned closely enough with any runway centerline to permit a straight-in landing, so after completing the instrument approach the pilot must maneuver visually around the airport to land on the chosen runway.
Context Anchor
Seen on instrument approach charts, often on named with a letter instead of a , such as or -B.