| Library / English Dictionary |
PASSIVE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The voice used to indicate that the grammatical subject of the verb is the recipient (not the source) of the action denoted by the verb
Example:
'The ball was thrown' is an abbreviated passive
Synonyms:
passive; passive voice
Classified under:
Nouns denoting relations between people or things or ideas
Hypernyms ("passive" is a kind of...):
voice ((linguistics) the grammatical relation (active or passive) of the grammatical subject of a verb to the action that the verb denotes)
Derivation:
passive (expressing that the subject of the sentence is the patient of the action denoted by the verb)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Lacking in energy or will
Example:
Much benevolence of the passive order may be traced to a disinclination to inflict pain upon oneself
Synonyms:
inactive; passive
Classified under:
Similar:
hands-off (not involving participation or intervention)
resistless; unresisting (offering no resistance)
supine (passive as a result of indolence or indifference)
Attribute:
passiveness; passivity (the trait of remaining inactive; a lack of initiative)
Antonym:
active (disposed to take action or effectuate change)
Derivation:
passiveness; passivity (the trait of remaining inactive; a lack of initiative)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Expressing that the subject of the sentence is the patient of the action denoted by the verb
Example:
academics seem to favor passive sentences
Classified under:
Domain category:
grammar (the branch of linguistics that deals with syntax and morphology (and sometimes also deals with semantics))
Antonym:
active (expressing that the subject of the sentence has the semantic function of actor:)
Derivation:
passive (the voice used to indicate that the grammatical subject of the verb is the recipient (not the source) of the action denoted by the verb)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Peacefully resistant in response to injustice
Example:
passive resistance
Synonyms:
passive; peaceful
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
nonviolent (abstaining (on principle) from the use of violence)
Derivation:
passiveness (submission to others or to outside influences)
Context examples:
Often sleeping; play entirely limited to very passive activities.
(Lansky Performance Status 20, NCI Thesaurus)
Because of passive accumulation within tumors, this agent may improve the therapeutic effects of doxorubicin while minimizing systemic toxicity.
(Aldoxorubicin, NCI Thesaurus)
This process could involve specialized and/or non-specialized mechanisms, active transport or passive movement, and carrier system(s).
(Biological Absorption, NCI Thesaurus)
Once there, they catalyse a reaction that transforms a passive molecule into a potent anticancer agent, explains Professor Jesús Santamaría of the University of Zaragoza.
(Scientists successfully deliver “Trojan horse” catalysts into cancerous tumour cells to destroy them from within, Universities of Granada)
Inhaling environmental tobacco smoke is called involuntary or passive smoking.
(Environmental tobacco smoke, NCI Dictionary)
A condition of decreased tone of the skeletal muscles and diminished resistance to passive stretching.
(Hypotonia, NCI Thesaurus)
They are involved in active, facilitated and passive transport of molecules in and out of the cell nucleus.
(Nucleoporin, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)
A condition of increased muscle tone manifested by increased resistance of the muscle to passive stretching.
(Hypertonia, NCI Thesaurus)
Upon intravenous administration, the antibodies against RSV may provide passive immunization against RSV.
(High-titer RSV Immune Globulin RI-001, NCI Thesaurus)
Bapineuzumab recognizes and binds the N-terminal amino acids 1-5 of the amyloid beta peptide, and may be used in a passive immunotherapy treatment.
(Bapineuzumab, NCI Thesaurus)
