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INVENTION
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The act of inventing
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("invention" is a kind of...):
creating by mental acts (the act of creating something by thinking)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "invention"):
coinage; neologism; neology (the act of inventing a word or phrase)
contrivance; devisal (the act of devising something)
Derivation:
invent (come up with (an idea, plan, explanation, theory, or principle) after a mental effort)
invent (concoct something artificial or untrue)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A creation (a new device or process) resulting from study and experimentation
Synonyms:
innovation; invention
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("invention" is a kind of...):
creation (an artifact that has been brought into existence by someone)
Sense 3
Meaning:
The creation of something in the mind
Synonyms:
conception; design; excogitation; innovation; invention
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("invention" is a kind of...):
creative thinking; creativeness; creativity (the ability to create)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "invention"):
concoction (the invention of a scheme or story to suit some purpose)
contrivance (the faculty of contriving; inventive skill)
Derivation:
invent (come up with (an idea, plan, explanation, theory, or principle) after a mental effort)
Context examples:
Two years ago a very large sum was smuggled through the Estimates and was expended in acquiring a monopoly of the invention.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
But not you, you can't; you hain't got the invention of a cockroach.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
The invention has recently been patented in Brazil and the next step is to make it commercially available.
(New Brazilian fertilizer can boost productivity, Agência BRASIL)
That is a fiction—an impudent invention to vex me.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
My father had a small factory at Coventry, which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The invention, called a liquid-entrenched smooth surface (LESS) coating, involves two separate treatments, both presented as suitable for spraying onto ceramics amongst other materials.
(Materials scientists invent new coating for self-cleaning, water-efficient toilets, Wikinews)
The researchers made their invention by first modelling all possible RNA sequence interactions on a computer, and then constructing the DNA encoding the optimal RNA designs, to be validated on bacteria cells in the laboratory.
(Cells Programmed Like Computers to Fight Disease, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
It is concerned with the invention, discovery, design, identification and preparation of biologically active compounds, the study of their metabolism, the interpretation of their mode of action at the molecular level and the construction of structure-activity relationships.
(Medicinal Chemistry, NCI Thesaurus)
Scientists from the Stanford University School of Medicine announced the invention of a new diagnostic tool that can sort cells by type: a tiny printable chip that can be manufactured using standard inkjet printers for possibly about one U.S. cent each.
(Scientists say new medical diagnostic chip can sort cells anywhere with an inkjet, Wikinews)
"My invention," Joe said proudly.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
