| Library / English Dictionary |
CROSS SECTION
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
(physics) the probability that a particular interaction (as capture or ionization) will take place between particles; measured in barns
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("cross section" is a kind of...):
chance; probability (a measure of how likely it is that some event will occur; a number expressing the ratio of favorable cases to the whole number of cases possible)
Domain category:
atomic physics; nuclear physics; nucleonics (the branch of physics that studies the internal structure of atomic nuclei)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A sample meant to be representative of a whole population
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("cross section" is a kind of...):
sample (a small part of something intended as representative of the whole)
Domain category:
statistics (a branch of applied mathematics concerned with the collection and interpretation of quantitative data and the use of probability theory to estimate population parameters)
Derivation:
cross-sectional (of or relating to a cross section)
Sense 3
Meaning:
A section created by a plane cutting a solid perpendicular to its longest axis
Classified under:
Nouns denoting spatial position
Hypernyms ("cross section" is a kind of...):
plane section; section ((geometry) the area created by a plane cutting through a solid)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "cross section"):
profile (a vertical section of the Earth's crust showing the different horizons or layers)
Derivation:
cross-sectional (representing a plane made by cutting across something at right angles to its length)
