Library / English Dictionary

HARNESS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Stable gear consisting of an arrangement of leather straps fitted to a draft animal so that it can be attached to and pull a cart

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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

saddlery; stable gear; tack (gear for a horse)

Meronyms (parts of "harness"):

bridle (headgear for a horse; includes a headstall and bit and reins to give the rider or driver control)

cinch; girth (stable gear consisting of a band around a horse's belly that holds the saddle in place)

hackamore; halter (rope or canvas headgear for a horse, with a rope for leading)

headgear (stable gear consisting of any part of a harness that fits about the horse's head)

martingale (a harness strap that connects the nose piece to the girth; prevents the horse from throwing back its head)

trace (either of two lines that connect a horse's harness to a wagon or other vehicle or to a whiffletree)

Derivation:

harness (put a harness)

harness (control and direct with or as if by reins)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A support consisting of an arrangement of straps for holding something to the body (especially one supporting a person suspended from a parachute)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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

support (any device that bears the weight of another thing)

Holonyms ("harness" is a part of...):

chute; parachute (rescue equipment consisting of a device that fills with air and retards your fall)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Keep in check

Example:

rule one's temper

Synonyms:

harness; rein; rule

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

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

hold back; keep; keep back; restrain (prevent the action or expression of)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Exploit the power of

Example:

harness natural forces and resources

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

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

exploit; tap (draw from; make good use of)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Put a harness

Example:

harness the horse

Synonyms:

harness; tackle

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

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

attach (cause to be attached)

Domain category:

animal husbandry (breeding and caring for farm animals)

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

inspan (attach a yoke or harness to)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP

Antonym:

unharness (remove the harness from)

Derivation:

harness (stable gear consisting of an arrangement of leather straps fitted to a draft animal so that it can be attached to and pull a cart)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Control and direct with or as if by reins

Example:

rein a horse

Synonyms:

draw rein; harness; rein; rein in

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

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

command; control (exercise authoritative control or power over)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

harness (stable gear consisting of an arrangement of leather straps fitted to a draft animal so that it can be attached to and pull a cart)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Cancer immunotherapies harness the potential of the immune system to seek and destroy cancers.

(Boosting Immunotherapy Against Brain Cancer, NIH)

As well as fighting disease and injury in humans, scientists could harness this technique to control plant cells and reverse environmental and agricultural issues, making plants more resilient to disease and pests.

(Cells Programmed Like Computers to Fight Disease, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Have Pommers ready at mid-day with my sycamore lance, and place my harness on the sumpter mule.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He was so eager that it should reach you that he would not leave me until the horse was harnessed and I started upon my way.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

But now a team of researchers have harnessed the power of this humble herb to attack the insect’s larvae before it can spread, using another common ingredient.

(Thyme oil and corn starch prove deadly for mosquito larvae, SciDev.Net)

In subterranean environments on Earth called subsurface lithotrophic microbial ecosystems, or SLiMEs, ecosystems sustain themselves not on plants that harness sunlight through photosynthesis but on microbes that harvest electrons from nearby molecules.

(Study suggests Mars hosted life-sustaining habitat for millions of years, Wikinews)

Tiny defects in the crystalline structure of perovskites, called traps, can cause electrons to get ‘stuck’ before their energy can be harnessed.

(Potassium gives perovskite-based solar cells an efficiency boost, University of Cambridge)

The origami pattern "has structural bistability that could be harnessed for metamaterials used in energy trapping or other microelectronic devices."

(Saddle-shaped origami enables new microelectronic applications, National Science Foundation)

A team at Houston Methodist Research Institute has been working to overcome the many hurdles to successful cancer treatment by harnessing nanotechnology to deliver drugs directly into cancerous cells.

(Injectable nanoparticles deliver cancer therapy in mice, NIH)

The scientists are seeking to understand the limits of the power of photosynthesis in algae and to harness that power to produce biofuels.

(Scientists discover key factors in how some algae harness solar energy, National Science Foundation)