Pattern n. 1.Anything proposed for imitation; an archetype; an exemplar; that which is to be, or is worthy to be, copied or imitated; as, a pattern of a machine. "I will be the pattern of all patience."
2.A part showing the figure or quality of the whole; a specimen; a sample; an example; an instance. "He compares the pattern with the whole piece."
3.Stuff sufficient for a garment; as, a dress pattern.
4.Figure or style of decoration; design; as, wall paper of a beautiful pattern.
5.Something made after a model; a copy. "The patterns of things in the heavens."
6.Anything cut or formed to serve as a guide to cutting or forming objects; as, a dressmaker's pattern.
7.(Founding) A full-sized model around which a mold of sand is made, to receive the melted metal. It is usually made of wood and in several parts, so as to be removed from the mold without injuring it.
8.A recognizable characteristic relationship or set of relationships between the members of any set of objects or actions, or the properties of the members; also, the set having a definable relationship between its members. Note: Various collections of objects or markings are spoken of as a pattern. Thus: the distribution of bomb or shell impacts on a target area, or of bullet holes in a target; a set of traits or actions that appear to be consistent throughout the members of a group or over time within a group, as behavioral pattern, traffic pattern, dress pattern; the wave pattern for a spoken word; the pattern of intensities in a spectrum; a grammatical pattern.
9.(Gun.) A diagram showing the distribution of the pellets of a shotgun on a vertical target perpendicular to the plane of fire.
10.The recommended flight path for an airplane to follow as it approaches an airport for a landing. Same as landing pattern.
11.An image or diagram containing lines, usually horizontal, vertical, and diagonal, sometimes of varying widths, used to test the resolution of an optical instrument or the accuracy of reproduction of image copying or transmission equipment. Same as test pattern.
pattern box, pattern chain, or pattern cylinder (Figure Weaving), devices, in a loom, for presenting several shuttles to the picker in the proper succession for forming the figure.
Pattern card. (a)A set of samples on a card.
(b)(Weaving) One of the perforated cards in a Jacquard apparatus.
Pattern reader, one who arranges textile patterns.
Pattern wheel (Horology), a count-wheel.
Pattern v. t. (past & past part. patterned; pres. part. patterning) 1.To make or design (anything) by, from, or after, something that serves as a pattern; to copy; to model; to imitate. "(A temple) patterned from that which Adam reared in Paradise."
2.To serve as an example for; also, to parallel.
To pattern after, to imitate; to follow.
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