- choice´ness
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–n.1. the act of choosing; selection: »
She was careful in her choice of friends. We had the choice of a house or an apartment. The choice of color, material, and style is all-important in buying a dress.
2. the power or chance to choose; option: »His father gave him a choice between a radio and a camera. You have no other choice but to leave now.
3. a person or thing chosen: »each to his choice (Rudyard Kipling). This hat is my choice.
4. a thing among several things to be chosen; alternative: »The store was out of milk and she had no choice but to buy it elsewhere.
5. a) a quantity and variety to choose from: »We found a wide choice of vegetables in the market. There's small choice in rotten apples (Shakespeare).
b) a well-chosen supply: »They were regaled with choice of food and drink.
6. the best or finest part; the pick: »These flowers are the choice of my garden.
–adj.1. excellent; of fine quality; superior; select: »choice food and wines. The choicest fruit had the highest price. The choice and master spirits of this age (Shakespeare). In a sea of folly tossed, my choicest hours of life are lost (Alexander Pope).
SYNONYM(S): exquisite. See syn. under fine. (Cf. ↑fine)2. carefully selected; well-chosen: »choice arguments. Choice word and measured phrase (Wordsworth).
3. (of beef and veal), being the grade of meat between prime and good. U.S. choice beef looks like prime but contains less fat.4. Chiefly Dialect. a) showing nice discrimination; fastidious: »a choice taste in food.
b) careful of one's possessions, etc.; making much: »the latest sailor songs…which they were very choice of (Richard Henry Dana).
╂[< Old French chois < Germanic (Old High German kiosan, cheosan choose)]–choice´ly, adverb.–choice´ness, noun.Synonym Study noun. 2, 3, 4 Choice, alternative, preference, option mean the chance to choose or the thing to be chosen. Choice, the general and most informal word, emphasizes freedom in choosing, both in the way one chooses and in the number of possibilities from which to choose: »Take your choice of the puppies.
Alternative emphasizes limitation of the possibilities, usually to two but sometimes several, between which one must choose: »You have the alternative of leaving or staying and behaving.
Preference emphasizes choosing according to one's own liking: »Which is your preference?
Option means a right to choose granted by someone to another; in business use, it means the purchased right to buy or to refrain from buying at the end of a stated period: »The court gave him the option of going to jail or paying a fine. He holds an option to buy the building.
Useful english dictionary. 2012.
