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POSSIBILITY
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A possible alternative
Example:
bankruptcy is always a possibility
Synonyms:
opening; possibility; possible action
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("possibility" is a kind of...):
alternative; choice; option (one of a number of things from which only one can be chosen)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "possibility"):
possible (something that can be done)
Derivation:
possible (existing in possibility)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A tentative insight into the natural world; a concept that is not yet verified but that if true would explain certain facts or phenomena
Example:
he proposed a fresh theory of alkalis that later was accepted in chemical practices
Synonyms:
hypothesis; possibility; theory
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("possibility" is a kind of...):
concept; conception; construct (an abstract or general idea inferred or derived from specific instances)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "possibility"):
hypothetical (a hypothetical possibility, circumstance, statement, proposal, situation, etc.)
gemmule (the physically discrete element that Darwin proposed as responsible for heredity)
framework; model; theoretical account (a hypothetical description of a complex entity or process)
conjecture; speculation (a hypothesis that has been formed by speculating or conjecturing (usually with little hard evidence))
assumption; supposal; supposition (a hypothesis that is taken for granted)
historicism (a theory that social and cultural events are determined by history)
Holonyms ("possibility" is a part of...):
theory (a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world; an organized system of accepted knowledge that applies in a variety of circumstances to explain a specific set of phenomena)
Sense 3
Meaning:
A future prospect or potential
Example:
this room has great possibilities
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("possibility" is a kind of...):
expectation; outlook; prospect (belief about (or mental picture of) the future)
Derivation:
possible (existing in possibility)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Capability of existing or happening or being true
Example:
there is a possibility that his sense of smell has been impaired
Synonyms:
possibility; possibleness
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("possibility" is a kind of...):
being; beingness; existence; face of the earth (the state or fact of existing)
Attribute:
possible (capable of happening or existing)
impossible (not capable of occurring or being accomplished or dealt with)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "possibility"):
conceivability; conceivableness (the state of being conceivable)
achievability; attainability; attainableness (the state of being achievable)
potency; potential; potentiality (the inherent capacity for coming into being)
chance; opportunity (a possibility due to a favorable combination of circumstances)
Antonym:
impossibility (incapability of existing or occurring)
Derivation:
possible (capable of happening or existing)
Context examples:
There was no possibility of taking a walk that day.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
The new work raises the possibility that thick ice-rich deposits also exist on the Moon.
(The Moon and Mercury May Have Thick Ice Deposits, NASA)
Then taking a small miniature from her pocket, she added, To prevent the possibility of mistake, be so good as to look at this face.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
It might refer to a temporal or sequential relationship, or indicate the possibility of performing a particular type of activity as a substitute for another one.
(Clinical Study Activity Relationship, NCI Thesaurus)
There are at least 4 isoforms of AKAP350 which lead to the possibility that they may behave differently at different subcellular locations.
(Centrosome Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)
Including all possibilities or occurring at regular intervals.
(Every, NCI Thesaurus)
If you would kindly put the matter a little more clearly there would be some possibility of my understanding you.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The first thing that strikes one is the obvious possibility that the person now in the rooms may be entirely different from the one who engaged them.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
A second possibility would involve a scaffold protein that interacts with ER.
(Pelp1 Estrogen Receptor Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)
Consisting of two (e.g., units, components, elements, terms, possibilities) or based on two.
(Binary, NCI Thesaurus)
