| Library / English Dictionary |
PREDICTOR
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A computer for controlling antiaircraft fire that computes the position of an aircraft at the instant of a shell's arrival
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("predictor" is a kind of...):
computer; computing device; computing machine; data processor; electronic computer; information processing system (a machine for performing calculations automatically)
Holonyms ("predictor" is a part of...):
ack-ack; ack-ack gun; antiaircraft; antiaircraft gun; flack; flak; pom-pom (artillery designed to shoot upward at airplanes)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Information that supports a probabilistic estimate of future events
Example:
the weekly bulletin contains several predictors of mutual fund performance
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("predictor" is a kind of...):
information (knowledge acquired through study or experience or instruction)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Someone who makes predictions of the future (usually on the basis of special knowledge)
Synonyms:
forecaster; predictor; prognosticator; soothsayer
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("predictor" is a kind of...):
illusionist; seer; visionary (a person with unusual powers of foresight)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "predictor"):
astrologer; astrologist (someone who predicts the future by the positions of the planets and sun and Moon)
fortune teller; fortuneteller (a person who foretells your personal future)
Derivation:
predict (make a prediction about; tell in advance)
Context examples:
The researchers report that their protein-based models were all either better predictors than models based on traditional risk factors or would constitute more convenient and less expensive alternatives to traditional testing.
(Study highlights potential for ‘liquid health check’ to predict disease risk, University of Cambridge)
They found that rock type is a good predictor of which microbe species grow on tombstones.
(Tales from the crypt: Life after death in a graveyard, National Science Foundation)
Rigid artery walls are an independent predictor of cardiovascular- related disease and death and vitamin D deficiency appears to be a contributor.
(High Doses of Vitamin D Rapidly Reduce Arterial Stiffness, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
The researchers found that sedentary behavior is a significant predictor of thinning of the MTL and that physical activity, even at high levels, is insufficient to offset the harmful effects of sitting for extended periods.
(Sitting Is Bad for Your Brain, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
Based on results from more than 2000 primary-age schoolchildren from across London, the researchers found that walking or cycling to school is a strong predictor of obesity levels, a result which was consistent across neighbourhoods, ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds.
(Children who walk to school less likely to be overweight or obese, study suggests, University of Cambridge)
HA and NA antibody levels considered together may be a better predictor of whether someone develops mild-to-moderate influenza disease — and the severity of their symptoms — than either factor alone, but this study suggests that NA antibodies are the stronger factor for determining disease severity.
(Study finds factors that may influence influenza vaccine effectiveness, NIH)
The study, by researchers at the University of Connecticut, Virginia Commonwealth University and Purdue University, demonstrates for the first time that a forest's structural complexity is a better predictor of carbon sequestration potential than tree species diversity.
(Structural complexity in forests improves carbon capture, National Science Foundation)
The study found that feeling lonely was a stronger predictor of poor outcomes than living alone, in both men and women.
(Loneliness Is Bad for Heart, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
In multivariate regression analysis, age, hair whitening score, hypertension and dyslipidaemia were independent predictors of the presence of atherosclerotic coronary artery disease.
(Grey Hair Linked with Increased Heart Disease Risk in Men, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
Scientists only recently discovered that humans naturally generate anti-HA stem antibodies in response to flu infection, and this is the first study of its kind to evaluate pre-existing levels of these specific antibodies as a predictor of protection against influenza.
(Flu infection study increases understanding of natural immunity, National Institutes of Health)
