Library / English Dictionary

PRECISELY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (adverb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Indicating exactness or preciseness

Example:

Properly speaking, all true work is religion.

Synonyms:

exactly; just; precisely; properly

Classified under:

Adverbs

Pertainym:

precise (sharply exact or accurate or delimited)

Sense 2

Meaning:

In a precise manner

Example:

she always expressed herself precisely

Synonyms:

exactly; incisively; precisely

Classified under:

Adverbs

Antonym:

imprecisely (in an imprecise manner)

Pertainym:

exact ((of ideas, images, representations, expressions) characterized by perfect conformity to fact or truth; strictly correct)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Just as it should be

Example:

'Precisely, my lord,' he said

Synonyms:

exactly; on the button; on the dot; on the nose; precisely

Classified under:

Adverbs

Credits

 Context examples: 

High-dose radiation is precisely directed at the tumor to avoid damaging healthy tissue, and may kill more cancer cells in fewer treatments.

(High-dose radiation, NCI Dictionary)

HDR is precisely directed at the tumor to avoid damaging healthy tissue, and may kill more cancer cells in fewer treatments.

(HDR, NCI Dictionary)

It is precisely for that reason, Sir John, that I am laying odds of two to one in his favour.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Yet that is precisely what we are about to make.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A specific application of gene sequencing that precisely determines the sequence of bases in DNA.

(DNA Resequencing, NCI Thesaurus)

A system that improves the accuracy of radiation treatment by precisely identifying the location of the tumor.

(CT on Rails, NCI Thesaurus)

While Arc is known to play a vital role in the brain’s ability to store new information, little is known about precisely how it works.

(Memory gene goes viral, National Institutes of Health)

Using Spitzer data, the team precisely measured the sizes of the seven planets and developed first estimates of the masses of six of them, allowing their density to be estimated.

(NASA Telescope Reveals Largest Batch of Earth-Size, Habitable-Zone Planets Around Single Star, NASA)

This approach allowed scientists to measure the energy of flares from stellar tidal disruption events more precisely than ever before.

(Studies Find Echoes of Black Holes Eating Stars, NASA)

Then, they precisely measured the shapes of 26 million galaxies to directly map patterns of dark matter over billions of light years, using gravitational lensing and galaxy clustering.

(New Clues to Universe's Structure Revealed, NASA)