DEFINING • FREE-TRANSLATOR.COM • Definition of Defining

Translators

Dictionaries

Courses

Other

Home

Add this Dictionary
to your website!
See more options...

/dɪfˈaɪnɪŋ/ Listen

verb

Define v. t. (past & past part. defined; pres. part. defining)

To fix the bounds of; to bring to a termination; to end. "To define controversies."

To determine or clearly exhibit the boundaries of; to mark the limits of; as, to define the extent of a kingdom or country.

To determine with precision; to mark out with distinctness; to ascertain or exhibit clearly; as, the defining power of an optical instrument. "Rings... very distinct and well defined."

To determine the precise signification of; to fix the meaning of; to describe accurately; to explain; to expound or interpret; as, to define a word, a phrase, or a scientific term. "They define virtue to be life ordered according to nature."

Define v. i. To determine; to decide. (Obs.)

See images of 'Defining'

Etymology of 'Defining'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

Share |

"Defining" Quotes from Famous Books

... art nothing is more strange than this: genius does not recognize genius. Still, the word is much abused, and the man who is a genius to some is never so to others. In defining a genius it is easiest to work by the rule of elimination and show what ...

— Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great, Volume 4 (of 14) - Little Journeys to the Homes of Eminent Painters • Elbert Hubbard

... concessions to the Ambalat oil block; the ICJ decision has prompted Indonesia to assert claims to and to establish a presence on its smaller outer islands; Indonesia and Singapore pledged in 2005 to finalize their 1973 maritime boundary agreement by defining unresolved areas north of Batam Island; Indonesian secessionists, squatters, and illegal migrants create repatriation problems for Papua New Guinea; piracy remains a problem ...

— The 2005 CIA World Factbook • United States. Central Intelligence Agency

... he wrote: "We are bound to understand by this terme [the Rule of Magistracy] the proper sphere, bounds and limits of that office which is not to intrude itself into the office and proper concerns of Christ's inward government and rule in the {276} conscience." After defining the magistrate's proper functions in the affairs of the external life, he then adds: "The more illuminated the Magistrate's conscience and judgment is, as to natural justice and right, by the knowledge of God and communications ...

— Spiritual Reformers in the 16th & 17th Centuries • Rufus M. Jones

... proposed by the inventors of oil-painting, of preserving light within the colors, involved a certain order of processes. The principal conditions were: first, that the outline should be completed on the panel before the painting, properly so called, was begun. The object, in thus defining the forms, was to avoid alterations and repaintings, which might ultimately render the ground useless without supplying its place. Another condition was to avoid loading the opaque colors. This limitation was ...

— On the Old Road Vol. 1 (of 2) - A Collection of Miscellaneous Essays and Articles on Art and Literature • John Ruskin

... the treaty defining the rights, immunities, and privileges of consuls, between Italy and the United States, ratified in 1868, either Government may, after the lapse of ten years, terminate the existence of the treaty by ...

— Messages and Papers of Rutherford B. Hayes - A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents • James D. Richardson

More quotes...