struc|ture

struc|ture
struc|ture «STRUHK chuhr», noun, verb, -tured, -tur|ing.
–n.
1. something built; building or construction: »

The city hall is a large stone structure. Dams, bridges, tunnels, and office buildings are great and useful structures.

 SYNONYM(S): See syn. under building. (Cf. ↑building)
2. anything composed of parts arranged together: »

The human body is a wonderful and complex structure.

3. the way parts are made or put together; manner of building; construction: »

The structure of the new school is excellent.

4. the relation of the parts or elements of a thing, especially as it determines its peculiar nature or character: »

the structure of society, sentence structure, the structure of a language, the structure of a story.

5. Biology. the arrangement of tissues, parts, or organs of a whole organism: »

the structure of a flower. The cytoplasm of plant cells usually exhibits a considerable amount of structure as seen with the microscope (Fred W. Emerson).

6. Geology. a) the character of rocks as determined by stratification and faults. b) the features of rocks that are due to fracture or to the arrangement of heterogeneous components.
7. Chemistry. the manner in which the atoms making up a particular molecule are attached to one another.
–v.t.
to make into a structure; build; construct; fabricate: »

to structure a building, to structure a sentence. Language is not only dependent on its culture, but in turn structures reality for this culture (Herbert Hackett).

╂[< Latin structūra < struere build, arrange]

Useful english dictionary. 2012.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • struc´ture|less|ness — struc|ture|less «STRUHK chuhr lihs», adjective. having no definite structure; amorphous. »To interpret the scattering of neutrons one idealizes the nucleus as a structureless sphere (New Scientist). –struc´ture|less|ness, noun …   Useful english dictionary

  • struc|ture|less — «STRUHK chuhr lihs», adjective. having no definite structure; amorphous. »To interpret the scattering of neutrons one idealizes the nucleus as a structureless sphere (New Scientist). –struc´ture|less|ness, noun …   Useful english dictionary

  • het|er|o|struc|ture — «HEHT uhr uh STRUHK chuhr», noun. a semiconducting device made up of several different types of semiconductors, used in lasers; heterojunction: »Minute sandwich like “hetero structures” composed of two or more different semiconducting materials… …   Useful english dictionary

  • in|fra|struc|ture — «IHN fruh STRUHK chuhr», noun. the essential elements forming the basis of a system or structure: »The infrastructure of the French economy the transport system, for example is now perhaps the best in Europe (Listener) …   Useful english dictionary

  • mac|ro|struc|ture — «MAK roh STRUHK chuhr», noun. the macroscopic structure of bodies, objects, or the like …   Useful english dictionary

  • meg|a|struc|ture — «MEHG uh STRUHK chuhr», noun. a very large building: »Arcology…is a total planned environment dwellings, factories, utilities, cultural centers within a single megastructure 1 2 miles wide and up to 300 stories high (Estie Stoll) …   Useful english dictionary

  • mi|cro|struc|ture — «MY kruh STRUHK chuhr», noun. the microscopic structure of bodies or objects, such as cells or minerals: »Scientists … have been studying the microstructure of the insect eye (Scientific American) …   Useful english dictionary

  • phrase-struc|ture grammar — «FRAYZ STRUHK chuhr», Linguistics. a grammar consisting of phrase structure rules: »Considerable progress has been made…in using computers to manipulate languages, both vernaculars and programming languages. Grammars called phrase structure… …   Useful english dictionary

  • re|struc|ture — «ree STRUHK chuhr», transitive verb, intransitive verb, tured, tur|ing. to structure anew; rearrange; reorganize: »Thinking is a guided process of restructuring a problem situation until it takes on the configuration of a solution (Scientific… …   Useful english dictionary

  • sub|struc|ture — «SUHB STRUHK chuhr, suhb STRUHK », noun. 1. the underlying and supporting structure of a building; foundation. 2. the base of earth, concrete, stone, or other material, upon which the ballast of a railroad is laid or the superstructure of a… …   Useful english dictionary

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