What does square mean?

What does square mean?. The world's largest and most trusted free online dictionary: definitions, synonyms, word origins, example sentences, word games, and more.

What does square mean? - The Free Dictionary

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[n] (geometry) a plane rectangle with four equal sides and four right angles; a four-sided regular polygon(you can compute the area of a square if you know the length of its sides)[v] make square(Square the circle square the wood with a file)[a] having four equal sides and four right angle

square

square - The Free Dictionary

[n] (geometry) a plane rectangle with four equal sides and four right angles; a four-sided regular polygon
(you can compute the area of a square if you know the length of its sides)

[v] make square
(Square the circle square the wood with a file)

[a] having four equal sides and four right angles or forming a right angle
(a square peg in a round hole a square corner)

[r] in a straight direct way
(looked him squarely in the eye ran square into me)

[n] the product of two equal terms
(nine is the second power of three gravity is inversely proportional to the square of the distance)

[v] raise to the second power

[a] characterized by honesty and fairness
(straight dealing a square deal)

[r] in a square shape
(a squarely cut piece of paper folded the sheet of paper square)

[n] an open area at the meeting of two or more streets

[v] cause to match, as of ideas or acts

[a] providing abundant nourishment
(a hearty meal good solid food ate a substantial breakfast four square meals a day)

[r] firmly and solidly
(hit the ball squarely the bat met the ball squarely planted his great bulk square before his enemy)

[n] something approximating the shape of a square

[v] position so as to be square
(He squared his shoulders)

[a] leaving no balance
(my account with you is now all square)

[n] someone who doesn't understand what is going on

[v] be compatible with
(one idea squares with another)

[a] without evasion or compromise
(a square contradiction he is not being as straightforward as it appears)

[n] a formal and conservative person with old-fashioned views

[v] pay someone and settle a debt
(I squared with him)

[a] rigidly conventional or old-fashioned

[n] any artifact having a shape similar to a plane geometric figure with four equal sides and four right angles
(a checkerboard has 64 squares)

[v] turn the paddle; in canoeing

[n] a hand tool consisting of two straight arms at right angles; used to construct or test right angles
(the carpenter who built this room must have lost his square)

[v] turn the oar, while rowing

Other vocabulary

's gravenhage, s, s wrench, s-shape, s-shaped, s. s. van dine, s. smith stevens, s.t.p., s.u.v., s/n, sa, sa node, saale, saale glaciation, saale river, saame, saami, saarinen, saba, sabah, sabahan, sabal, sabal palmetto, sabaoth, sabaton, sabayon, sabbat, sabbatarian, sabbath, sabbath school, q, q fever, qabala, qabalah, qabalistic, qabbala, qabbalah, qaddafi, qadhafi, qadi, qaeda, qandahar, qara qum, qassam brigades, qat, qatar, qatar peninsula, qatari, qatari dirham, qatari monetary unit, qatari riyal, qcd, qed, qepiq, qi, qiang, qiangic, qibla, qin, qin dynasty

Dictionary

A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged alphabetically (or by consonantal root for Semitic languages or radical and stroke for ideographic languages), which may include information on definitions, usage, etymologies, pronunciations, translation, etc. It is a lexicographical reference that shows inter-relationships among the data.

A broad distinction is made between general and specialized dictionaries. Specialized dictionaries include words in specialist fields, rather than a complete range of words in the language. Lexical items that describe concepts in specific fields are usually called terms instead of words, although there is no consensus whether lexicology and terminology are two different fields of study. In theory, general dictionaries are supposed[citation needed] to be semasiological, mapping word to definition, while specialized dictionaries are supposed to be onomasiological, first identifying concepts and then establishing the terms used to designate them. In practice, the two approaches are used for both types. There are other types of dictionaries that do not fit neatly into the above distinction, for instance bilingual (translation) dictionaries, dictionaries of synonyms (thesauri), and rhyming dictionaries. The word dictionary (unqualified) is usually understood to refer to a general purpose monolingual dictionary.

There is also a contrast between prescriptive or descriptive dictionaries; the former reflect what is seen as correct use of the language while the latter reflect recorded actual use. Stylistic indications (e.g. "informal" or "vulgar") in many modern dictionaries are also considered by some to be less than objectively descriptive.

The first recorded dictionaries date back to Sumerian times around 2300 BCE, in the form of bilingual dictionaries, and the oldest surviving monolingual dictionaries are Chinese dictionaries c. 3rd century BCE. The first purely English alphabetical dictionary was A Table Alphabeticall, written in 1604, and monolingual dictionaries in other languages also began appearing in Europe at around this time. The systematic study of dictionaries as objects of scientific interest arose as a 20th-century enterprise, called lexicography, and largely initiated by Ladislav Zgusta. The birth of the new discipline was not without controversy, with the practical dictionary-makers being sometimes accused by others of having an "astonishing" lack of method and critical-self reflection.