| Library / English Dictionary |
ENVIRONMENT
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The area in which something exists or lives
Example:
the country--the flat agricultural surround
Synonyms:
environment; environs; surround; surroundings
Classified under:
Nouns denoting spatial position
Hypernyms ("environment" is a kind of...):
geographic area; geographic region; geographical area; geographical region (a demarcated area of the Earth)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "environment"):
ambiance; ambience (the atmosphere of an environment)
medium (the surrounding environment)
scene; setting (the context and environment in which something is set)
element (the most favorable environment for a plant or animal)
habitat; home ground (the type of environment in which an organism or group normally lives or occurs)
melting pot (an environment in which many ideas and races are socially assimilated)
parts (the local environment)
Sense 2
Meaning:
The totality of surrounding conditions
Example:
he longed for the comfortable environment of his living room
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("environment" is a kind of...):
situation; state of affairs (the general state of things; the combination of circumstances at a given time)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "environment"):
circumstance; context; setting (the set of facts or circumstances that surround a situation or event)
ecology (the environment as it relates to living organisms)
background; scope; setting (the state of the environment in which a situation exists)
home (an environment offering affection and security)
milieu; surroundings (the environmental condition)
area; arena; domain; field; orbit; sphere (a particular environment or walk of life)
street (the streets of a city viewed as a depressed environment in which there is poverty and crime and prostitution and dereliction)
Derivation:
environmental (of or relating to the external conditions or surroundings)
Context examples:
Something in their island environment must have kept their blood pressure from rising.
(Can Chocolate Really Be Good for You?, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
Myoinositol helps cells make membranes and respond to messages from their environment.
(Myoinositol, NCI Dictionary)
The Stimson unit overlies a layer of mudstone that was deposited in a lake environment.
(Mars Panorama from Curiosity Shows Petrified Sand Dunes, NASA)
Mutations may be caused by mistakes during cell division, or they may be caused by exposure to DNA-damaging agents in the environment.
(Mutation, NCI Dictionary)
The interactions of multiple candidate genes, environments, and exposures will be examined in Specific Aim 3.
(Molecular Epidemiology of Prostate Cancer, NCI Thesaurus)
They regulate the extracellular ionic and chemical environment, and "reactive astrocytes" (along with microglia) respond to injury.
(Murine Astrocytes, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)
It also analyzes the impact of the psychological conditions resulting from our environment on our health.
(Medical Sociology, NCI Thesaurus)
Systems designed to elucidate facts about complex biological phenomena, usually in a less complex or theoretical test environment.
(Biological Model, NCI Thesaurus)
B cells must communicate with their environment to participate in the immune system as the source of antigen-specific immunoglobulins.
(B Lymphocyte Cell Surface Molecule Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)
The three goals of the AREA program are: to support meritorious research, to strengthen the research environment of the institution, and to expose students to research.
(Academic Research Enhancement Awards (Area), NCI Thesaurus)
