Comparison
[kəm'pærɪs(ə)n] or [kəm'pærɪsn]
Definition
(noun.) the act of examining resemblances; 'they made a comparison of noise levels'; 'the fractions selected for comparison must require pupils to consider both numerator and denominator'.
(noun.) qualities that are comparable; 'no comparison between the two books'; 'beyond compare'.
(noun.) relation based on similarities and differences.
Typed by Ina--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) The act of comparing; an examination of two or more objects with the view of discovering the resemblances or differences; relative estimate.
(n.) The state of being compared; a relative estimate; also, a state, quality, or relation, admitting of being compared; as, to bring a thing into comparison with another; there is no comparison between them.
(n.) That to which, or with which, a thing is compared, as being equal or like; illustration; similitude.
(n.) The modification, by inflection or otherwise, which the adjective and adverb undergo to denote degrees of quality or quantity; as, little, less, least, are examples of comparison.
(n.) A figure by which one person or thing is compared to another, or the two are considered with regard to some property or quality, which is common to them both; e.g., the lake sparkled like a jewel.
(n.) The faculty of the reflective group which is supposed to perceive resemblances and contrasts.
(v. t.) To compare.
Inputed by Darlene
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. [1]. Collation, COMPARE, relative estimate, comparative estimate.[2]. Simile, similitude.
Inputed by Joanna
Synonyms and Antonyms
[See LIKENESS]
Checked by Debbie
Examples
- She could never do enough for me and was remarkably softened now in comparison with what she had been when we first knew her. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- I had always felt my weakness, in comparison with her constancy and fortitude; and now I felt it more and more. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- That the United States has from the beginning far outstripped the rest of the civilized world in the growth of the telephone is shown by comparison. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- The militarism and imperialism of Britain and France and Italy are by comparison feeble, disorganized, and disorganizing survivals. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- In comparison with his brother, Edmund would have nothing to say. Jane Austen. Mansfield Park.
- An involuntary comparison between Mr. Lennox and Mr. Thornton arose in her mind. Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. North and South.
- But study of cases of success and failure and minute and extensive comparison, helps to seize upon causes. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- The Latin tribes on the other side of the Tiber were by comparison barbaric. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- All these differences prevent or weaken the comparison, and consequently the passion. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- The church, in comparison with its later state, was more in the hands of local laymen and the local ruler; it lacked its later universality. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- At Oxford I have been a good deal used to have a man lean on me for the length of a street, and you are only a fly in the comparison. Jane Austen. Mansfield Park.
- What does it offer in comparison with, as balanced over against, some other possibility? John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- Altogether they were not unlovely when viewed in comparison with the green Martians. Edgar Rice Burroughs. A Princess of Mars.
- Such is the plain story of Gautama as we gather it from a comparison of early writings. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Two colours, that are of the same kind, may yet be of different shades, and in that respect admit of comparison. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- By two comparisons so disadvantageous the passion must be entirely destroyed. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- I shall hereafter have occasion to make several comparisons of this kind. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- The cultivation and garnering of crops from such vast areas can only be appreciated by comparisons. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- The most satisfactory comparisons were rising in her mind. Jane Austen. Emma.
- His master's observations upon the constitution and administration of England, as described by the author, with parallel cases and comparisons. Jonathan Swift. Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World.
- She was pretty tooat least I thought so THEN; and I had seen so little of other women, that I could make no comparisons, and see no defects. Jane Austen. Sense and Sensibility.
- Yes: I have thought over your life just as you have yourself thought it over; I have made comparisons like those to which you adverted. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- I will not sit here, and hear such comparisons made. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- And were it not for certain ugly comparisons, hard to be suppressed, the pleasure arising from such a research would be without alloy. Benjamin Franklin. Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin.
- Such comparisons, however, between the profit and expense of new projects are commonly very fallacious; and in nothing more so than in agriculture. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
Checked by Jennie