Library / English Dictionary

NOTCH

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A small cut

Synonyms:

nick; notch; snick

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

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

cut; cutting (the act of penetrating or opening open with a sharp edge)

Derivation:

notch (notch a surface to record something)

notch (cut or make a notch into)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A V-shaped or U-shaped indentation carved or scratched into a surface

Example:

there were four notches in the handle of his revolver

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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

indentation; indenture (a concave cut into a surface or edge (as in a coastline))

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

serration (a single notch in a row of notches)

thumb index (one of a series of rounded notches in the fore edge of a book to indicate sections)

undercut (a notch cut in the trunk of tree in order to determine the direction of its fall)

Derivation:

notch (notch a surface to record something)

notch (cut or make a notch into)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The location in a range of mountains of a geological formation that is lower than the surrounding peaks

Example:

we got through the pass before it started to snow

Synonyms:

mountain pass; notch; pass

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

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

location (a point or extent in space)

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

col; gap (a pass between mountain peaks)

defile; gorge (a narrow pass (especially one between mountains))

saddle; saddleback (a pass or ridge that slopes gently between two peaks (is shaped like a saddle))

Instance hyponyms:

Brenner Pass (an Alpine mountain pass connecting Innsbruck in Austria with Bolzano in Italy that has long been a route for trade and for invasions)

Cumberland Gap (a pass through the Cumberland Mountains between Virginia and Kentucky that early settlers used in order to move west)

Donner Pass (a mountain pass in northeastern California near Lake Tahoe; site where in 1844 some members of an emigrant party survived by eating those who had died)

Khyber Pass (a mountain pass of great strategic and commercial value in the Hindu Kush on the border between northern Pakistan and western Afghanistan; a route by which invaders entered India)

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

chain; chain of mountains; mountain chain; mountain range; range; range of mountains (a series of hills or mountains)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A V-shaped indentation

Example:

mandibular notch

Classified under:

Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes

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

indentation; indenture (a concave cut into a surface or edge (as in a coastline))

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

incisura; incisure ((anatomy) a notch or small hollow)

Derivation:

notch (cut or make a notch into)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Notch a surface to record something

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

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

enter; put down; record (make a record of; set down in permanent form)

Sentence frames:

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

Derivation:

notch (a small cut)

notch (a V-shaped or U-shaped indentation carved or scratched into a surface)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Cut or make a notch into

Example:

notch the rope

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

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

incise (make an incision into by carving or cutting)

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

mark; nock; score (make small marks into the surface of)

indent (notch the edge of or make jagged)

Sentence frames:

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

Derivation:

notch (a small cut)

notch (a V-shaped or U-shaped indentation carved or scratched into a surface)

notch (a V-shaped indentation)

Credits

 Context examples: 

This protein is involved in binding to notch proteins, mesoderm development and neurogenesis.

(Delta-Like Protein 3, NCI Thesaurus)

This allele, which encodes neurogenic locus notch homolog protein 2, is involved in the mediation of cell-cell signaling.

(NOTCH2 wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

This allele, which encodes neurogenic locus notch homolog protein 3, is involved in both cell-cell signaling and cell differentiation.

(NOTCH3 wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

More than once, as tufts of grass came out in my hand or my foot slipped in the wet notches of the rock, I thought that I was gone.

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

That winter, at Dawson, Buck performed another exploit, not so heroic, perhaps, but one that put his name many notches higher on the totem-pole of Alaskan fame.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

A broad, thin, crescent-shaped fold consisting of two layers of peritoneum extending from the notch of the anterior margin of the liver to the anterior abdominal wall and diaphragm.

(Falciform Ligament, NCI Thesaurus)

This allele, which encodes delta-like protein 1, plays a role in notch signaling during hematopoietic cell fate determination.

(DLL1 wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

Notch receptors are important for cell-cell communication, which involves gene regulation mechanisms that control multiple cell differentiation processes during embryonic and adult life.

(Anti-Notch Receptor Monoclonal Antibody OMP-59R5, NCI Thesaurus)

This allele, which encodes neurogenic locus notch homolog protein 4 protein, is involved in receptor-ligand interactions and may play a role in vascular, renal and hepatic development.

(NOTCH4 wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

This allele, which encodes neurogenic locus notch homolog protein 1 protein, plays a role in developmental processes by controlling cell fate decisions.

(NOTCH1 wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)