Library / English Dictionary

PARTITION

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of dividing or partitioning; separation by the creation of a boundary that divides or keeps apart

Synonyms:

division; partition; partitioning; sectionalisation; sectionalization; segmentation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("partition" is a kind of...):

separation (the act of dividing or disconnecting)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "partition"):

subdivision (the act of subdividing; division of something previously divided)

septation (the division or partitioning of a cavity into parts by a septum)

zoning (dividing an area into zones or sections reserved for different purposes such as residence and business and manufacturing etc)

Derivation:

partition (separate or apportion into sections)

partition (divide into parts, pieces, or sections)

partitionist (an advocate of partitioning a country)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A vertical structure that divides or separates (as a wall divides one room from another)

Synonyms:

divider; partition

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("partition" is a kind of...):

construction; structure (a thing constructed; a complex entity constructed of many parts)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "partition"):

brattice (a partition (often temporary) of planks or cloth that is used to control ventilation in a mine)

bulkhead (a partition that divides a ship or plane into compartments)

screen (partition consisting of a decorative frame or panel that serves to divide a space)

wall (an architectural partition with a height and length greater than its thickness; used to divide or enclose an area or to support another structure)

Derivation:

partition (separate or apportion into sections)

partition (divide into parts, pieces, or sections)

Sense 3

Meaning:

(anatomy) a structure that separates areas in an organism

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("partition" is a kind of...):

body part (any part of an organism such as an organ or extremity)

Domain category:

anatomy; general anatomy (the branch of morphology that deals with the structure of animals)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "partition"):

septum ((anatomy) a dividing partition between two tissues or cavities)

Sense 4

Meaning:

(computer science) the part of a hard disk that is dedicated to a particular operating system or application and accessed as a single unit

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Hypernyms ("partition" is a kind of...):

computer memory unit (a unit for measuring computer memory)

Domain category:

computer science; computing (the branch of engineering science that studies (with the aid of computers) computable processes and structures)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Separate or apportion into sections

Example:

partition a room off

Synonyms:

partition; zone

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "partition" is one way to...):

divide; separate (make a division or separation)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "partition"):

screen off; separate off (partition by means of a divider, such as a screen)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

partition (the act of dividing or partitioning; separation by the creation of a boundary that divides or keeps apart)

partition (a vertical structure that divides or separates (as a wall divides one room from another))

partitioning (the act of dividing or partitioning; separation by the creation of a boundary that divides or keeps apart)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Divide into parts, pieces, or sections

Example:

The Arab peninsula was partitioned by the British

Synonyms:

partition; partition off

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "partition" is one way to...):

divide; part; separate (come apart)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "partition"):

pound; pound off (partition off into compartments)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

partition (the act of dividing or partitioning; separation by the creation of a boundary that divides or keeps apart)

partition (a vertical structure that divides or separates (as a wall divides one room from another))

partitioning (the act of dividing or partitioning; separation by the creation of a boundary that divides or keeps apart)

partitionist (an advocate of partitioning a country)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Instead, at two in the morning, Maria, having heard his groans through the thin partition, came into his room, to put hot flat-irons against his body and damp cloths upon his aching eyes.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

The partitions between the cells of the convicts, instead of being of thick oak, as is usual in convict-ships, were quite thin and frail.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A lath-and-plaster partition had been run across the passage six feet from the end, with a door cunningly concealed in it.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Such techniques include ion exchange columns, gel filtration methods, affinity chromatography, HPLC, aqueous two phase partitioning, and membrane separation.

(Biomolecule Separation Technology, NCI Thesaurus)

The stationary phase was packed in a column with materials that can be of any partitioning capability, adsorption, ion exchange, or affinity.

(Column Chromatography, NCI Thesaurus)

Their mangers were placed circular in the middle of the room, and divided into several partitions, round which they sat on their haunches, upon bosses of straw.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

The process of assigning a label to every pixel in an image such that pixels with the same label share certain visual characteristics, allowing the image to be partitioned into multiple segments (e.g., boundaries, lines, curves).

(Image Segmentation, NCI Thesaurus)

Any component of the thin sheet or layer of pliable tissue, serving as a covering or envelope of a part, as the lining of a cavity, as a partition or septum, or to connect two structures.

(Membrane Part, NCI Thesaurus)

Gatifloxacin exerts its effect through inhibition of DNA gyrase, an enzyme involved in DNA replication, transcription and repair, and inhibition of topoisomerase IV, an enzyme involved in partitioning of chromosomal DNA during bacterial cell division.

(Gatifloxacin, NCI Thesaurus)

A statistical method of partitioning a sample of data into subsets such that the analysis is initially performed on a single subset, while the other subsets are retained for subsequent use in confirming and validating the initial analysis.

(Cross Validation, NCI Thesaurus)