Specify
['spesɪfaɪ] or ['spɛsɪfaɪ]
Definition
(verb.) decide upon or fix definitely; 'fix the variables'; 'specify the parameters'.
(verb.) be specific about; 'Could you please specify your criticism of my paper?'.
(verb.) determine the essential quality of.
Checked by Ives--From WordNet
Definition
(v. t.) To mention or name, as a particular thing; to designate in words so as to distinguish from other things; as, to specify the uses of a plant; to specify articles purchased.
Checker: Lorrie
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. Designate, particularize, indicate, define, individualize, show clearly, name with precision.
Checked by Conan
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Particularize, individualize, indicate, designate, detail, determine, state,enumerate, mention
ANT:Generalize, classify, amalgamate, confound
Inputed by Effie
Definition
v.t. to mention particularly: to set down as a requisite:—pa.t. and pa.p. spec′ifīed.—v.t. Specif′icate to specify.—n. Specificā′tion the act of specifying: any point or particular specified: the description of his invention presented by an applicant for a patent.—Logical specification is the counterpart of generalisation—implying that beings the most like or homogeneous disagree or are heterogeneous in some respect.
Editor: Stacy
Examples
- There are ways---- But she did not go on to specify them. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- I will specify one difficult case. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- It is impossible for me here to enter on details, but I may specify a few of the points of difference. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- Caleb was too delicate, to specify Mr. Featherstone. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- This is all a matter of the nerves, I see: but just specify the vision. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- They persisted in withdrawing for the specified time. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- The latest improvements in Revolvers were contrived by Mr. Josiah Ells, of Pittsburg, North America, as specified in a patent obtained for him by the author, in his own name, in 1855. Frederick C. Bakewell. Great Facts.
- Suppose we wish to measure the strength of the electric light bulbs in our homes, in order to see whether we are getting the specified illumination. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- Except in certain specified instances the league of this Covenant could make only unanimous decisions. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Several other less distinct breeds might be specified. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- Specified facts and qualities constitute the elements of the problem to be dealt with, and it is through our sense organs that they are specified. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- But we must remember that the object is only a mark or sign by which the mind specifies the activity one desires to carry out. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- He specifies the arrangement of the cells in the tissues, and of the leaves on the axis, as cases in which natural selection could not have acted. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
Checker: Rene