English Dictionary

define

/dɪˈfaɪn/

verb

To determine with precision; to mark out with distinctness; to ascertain or exhibit clearly. / (obsolete) To settle, decide (an argument etc.) / To express the essential nature of something.

Scientists use various methods to define the exact parameters of a scientific experiment.

意味（1）

To determine with precision; to mark out with distinctness; to ascertain or exhibit clearly.

Rings […] very distinct and well defined.

意味（2）

(obsolete) To settle, decide (an argument etc.)

These warlike Champions, all in armour shine, / Assembled were in field the chalenge to define.

意味（3）

To express the essential nature of something.

Cantor defined a one-to-one correspondence between the points of the square and the points of the line segment. Every point in the square was associated with a single point in the segment; every point in the segment was matched with a unique point in the square.

意味（4）

To state the meaning of a word, phrase, sign, or symbol.

The textbook defined speed as velocity divided by time.

意味（5）

To describe, explain, or make definite and clear; used to request the listener or other person to elaborate or explain more clearly his or her intended meaning of a word or expression.

Person 1: Is she good at math?

Person 1: Is she good at math? Person 2: Define good. If you mean if she is faster than the average middle schooler at multiplication, then yes. If you mean if she is able to do multivariable calculus, then no.

意味（6）

To demark sharply the outlines or limits of an area or concept.

Few concepts are as emotionally charged as that of race. The word conjures up a mixture of associations—culture, ethnicity, genetics, subjugation, exclusion and persecution. But is the tragic history of efforts to define groups of people by race really a matter of the misuse of science, the abuse of a valid biological concept?

意味（7）

(mathematics) To establish the referent of a term or notation.