bias English
Noun
(countable, uncountable) inclination towards something; predisposition, partiality, prejudice, preference, predilection
* 1748 . David Hume. Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral. London: Oxford University Press, 1973. § 4.
- nature has pointed out a mixed kind of life as most suitable to the human race, and secretly admonished them to allow none of these biasses to draw too much
* John Locke
- Morality influences men's lives, and gives a bias to all their actions.
(countable, textiles) the diagonal line between warp and weft in a woven fabric
(countable, textiles) A wedge-shaped piece of cloth taken out of a garment (such as the waist of a dress) to diminish its circumference.
(electronics) a voltage or current applied for example to a transistor electrode
(statistics) the difference between the expectation of the sample estimator and the true population value, which reduces the representativeness of the estimator by systematically distorting it
(sports) In the game of crown green bowls: a weight added to one side of a bowl so that as it rolls, it will follow a curved rather than a straight path; the oblique line followed by such a bowl; the lopsided shape or structure of such a bowl.
* Sir Walter Scott
- there is a concealed bias within the spheroid
Derived terms
* bias tape
Verb
To place bias upon; to influence.
- Our prejudices bias our views.
Adjective
( en adjective)
Inclined to one side; swelled on one side.
- (Shakespeare)
Cut slanting or diagonally, as cloth.
Adverb
( -)
In a slanting manner; crosswise; obliquely; diagonally.
- to cut cloth bias
Anagrams
*
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swing Etymology 1
From (etyl) swingen, from (etyl) swingan, from (etyl) (compare Scottish Gaelic seang 'thin').
Verb
To rotate about an off-centre fixed point.
- The plant swung in the breeze.
* 1912 , (Edgar Rice Burroughs), (Tarzan of the Apes), Chapter 12
- With one accord the tribe swung rapidly toward the frightened cries, and there found Terkoz holding an old female by the hair and beating her unmercifully with his great hands.
To dance.
To ride on a swing.
- The children laughed as they swung .
To participate in the lifestyle; to participate in wife-swapping.
To hang from the gallows.
(intransitive, cricket, of a ball) to move sideways in its trajectory.
To fluctuate or change.
- It wasn't long before the crowd's mood swung towards restless irritability.
To move (an object) backward and forward; to wave.
- He swung his sword as hard as he could.
To change (a numerical result); especially to change the outcome of an election.
To make (something) work; especially to afford (something) financially.
- If it’s not too expensive, I think we can swing it.
(music) To play notes that are in pairs by making the first of the pair slightly longer than written (augmentation) and the second, resulting in a bouncy, uneven rhythm.
(cricket) (of a bowler) to make the ball move sideways in its trajectory.
(transitive, and, intransitive, boxing) To move one's arm in a punching motion.
In dancing, to turn around in a small circle with one's partner, holding hands or arms.
- "to swing''' one's partner", or simply "to '''swing "
(engineering) To admit or turn something for the purpose of shaping it; said of a lathe.
- The lathe can swing a pulley of 12 inches diameter.
(carpentry) To put (a door, gate, etc.) on hinges so that it can swing or turn.
(nautical) To turn round by action of wind or tide when at anchor.
- A ship swings with the tide.
Derived terms
* come out swinging
Troponyms
*(to rotate about an off-centre fixed point) pivot, swivel
Etymology 2
From the above verb.
Noun
( en noun)
The manner in which something is swung.
-
-
-
A line, cord, or other thing suspended and hanging loose, upon which anything may swing.
A hanging seat in a children's playground, for acrobats in a circus, or on a porch for relaxing.
* , chapter=12
, title= The Mirror and the Lamp
, passage=To Edward […] he was terrible, nerve-inflaming, poisonously asphyxiating. He sat rocking himself in the late Mr. Churchill's swing chair, smoking and twaddling.}}
A dance style.
(music) The genre of music associated with this dance style.
The amount of change towards or away from something.
# (politics) In an election, the increase or decrease in the number of votes for opposition parties compared with votes for the incumbent party.
- The polls showed a wide swing to Labour.
(cricket) Sideways movement of the ball as it flies through the air.
The diameter that a lathe can cut.
In a musical theater production, a performer who understudies several roles.
A basic dance step in which a pair link hands and turn round together in a circle.
Capacity of a turning lathe, as determined by the diameter of the largest object that can be turned in it.
(obsolete) Free course; unrestrained liberty.
* (John Dryden)
- Take thy swing .
* Burke
- To prevent anything which may prove an obstacle to the full swing of his genius.
Quotations
* 1937 June 11, Judy Garland, “All God’s Chillun Got Rhythm”, A day at the races , Sam Wood (director), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
*: All God’s chillun got rhythm. All God's chillun got swing .
*: Maybe haven't got money, maybe haven't got shoes.
*: All God’s chillun got rhythm for to [sic. ] push away their blues.
Derived terms
* swing of things
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