Library / English Dictionary

BIAS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected forms: biassed    , biassing   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A partiality that prevents objective consideration of an issue or situation

Synonyms:

bias; preconception; prejudice

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("bias" is a kind of...):

partiality; partisanship (an inclination to favor one group or view or opinion over alternatives)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "bias"):

taboo; tabu (a prejudice (especially in Polynesia and other South Pacific islands) that prohibits the use or mention of something because of its sacred nature)

irrational hostility (extreme prejudice)

experimenter bias ((psychology) bias introduced by an experimenter whose expectations about the outcome of the experiment can be subtly communicated to the participants in the experiment)

homophobia (prejudice against (fear or dislike of) homosexual people and homosexuality)

Islamophobia (prejudice against Muslims)

racism (the prejudice that members of one race are intrinsically superior to members of other races)

tendentiousness (an intentional and controversial bias)

Derivation:

bias (cause to be biased)

bias (influence in an unfair way)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A line or cut across a fabric that is not at right angles to a side of the fabric

Synonyms:

bias; diagonal

Classified under:

Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes

Hypernyms ("bias" is a kind of...):

straight line (a line traced by a point traveling in a constant direction; a line of zero curvature)

 II. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Slanting diagonally across the grain of a fabric

Example:

a bias fold

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

oblique (slanting or inclined in direction or course or position--neither parallel nor perpendicular nor right-angled)

 III. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cause to be biased

Synonyms:

bias; predetermine

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "bias" is one way to...):

prejudice; prepossess (influence (somebody's) opinion in advance)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "bias"):

angle; slant; weight (present with a bias)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

bias (a partiality that prevents objective consideration of an issue or situation)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Influence in an unfair way

Example:

you are biasing my choice by telling me yours

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Hypernyms (to "bias" is one way to...):

prejudice; prepossess (influence (somebody's) opinion in advance)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "bias"):

handicap (attempt to forecast the winner (especially in a horse race) and assign odds for or against a contestant)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

bias (a partiality that prevents objective consideration of an issue or situation)

Credits

 Context examples: 

The unfair treatment of a person or group based on class or category bias.

(Discrimination, NCI Thesaurus)

Local aid is always either worthless or else biassed.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

For, indeed, who is there alive that will not be swayed by his bias and partiality to the place of his birth?

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

I was afraid of the bias of those worldly maxims, which she has been too much used to hear.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

He much regretted that any personal bias should have been read into his remarks, which were entirely dictated by his desire for scientific truth.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"Don't trouble yourself to give her a character," returned Mr. Rochester: "eulogiums will not bias me; I shall judge for myself. She began by felling my horse."

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The process of assigning nonclinical study subjects to treatment or control groups using an element of chance to determine the assignments in order to reduce bias.

(Nonclinical Randomization, NCI Thesaurus)

The study focused on current drinkers to reduce the risk of bias caused by those who abstain from alcohol due to poor health.

(Drinking more than five pints a week could shorten your life, University of Cambridge)

Mr. Perry was an intelligent, gentlemanlike man, whose frequent visits were one of the comforts of Mr. Woodhouse's life; and upon being applied to, he could not but acknowledge (though it seemed rather against the bias of inclination) that wedding-cake might certainly disagree with many—perhaps with most people, unless taken moderately.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

It would be mortifying to the feelings of many ladies, could they be made to understand how little the heart of man is affected by what is costly or new in their attire; how little it is biased by the texture of their muslin, and how unsusceptible of peculiar tenderness towards the spotted, the sprigged, the mull, or the jackonet.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)