| Library / English Dictionary |
UMBRELLA
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Having the function of uniting a group of similar things
Example:
under the umbrella of capitalism
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("umbrella" is a kind of...):
conjugation; jointure; unification; union; uniting (the act of making or becoming a single unit)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A formation of military planes maintained over ground operations or targets
Example:
an air umbrella over England
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("umbrella" is a kind of...):
defence; defense; defensive measure ((military) military action or resources protecting a country against potential enemies)
Domain category:
armed forces; armed services; military; military machine; war machine (the military forces of a nation)
Sense 3
Meaning:
A lightweight handheld collapsible canopy
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("umbrella" is a kind of...):
canopy (a covering (usually of cloth) that serves as a roof to shelter an area from the weather)
Meronyms (parts of "umbrella"):
gore; panel (a piece of cloth that is generally triangular or tapering; used in making garments or umbrellas or sails)
grip; handgrip; handle; hold (the appendage to an object that is designed to be held in order to use or move it)
rib (support resembling the rib of an animal)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "umbrella"):
brolly; gamp (colloquial terms for an umbrella)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Covering or applying simultaneously to a number of similar items or elements or groups
Example:
umbrella insurance coverage
Classified under:
Similar:
comprehensive (including all or everything)
Context examples:
Under these miniature magnetic umbrellas, the material that makes up the Moon's surface, called regolith, is shielded from the Sun's particles.
(NASA Mission Reveals Origins of Moon's 'Sunburn', NASA)
These umbrellas are remnants of an ancient global field that decayed billions of years ago.
(Auroras on Mars, NASA)
The Premier’s thin, blue-veined hands were clasped tightly over the ivory head of his umbrella, and his gaunt, ascetic face looked gloomily from Holmes to me.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
As I emerged from the hall I was conscious for a moment of a rush of laughing students—down the pavement, and of an arm wielding a heavy umbrella, which rose and fell in the midst of them.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Grant himself went out with an umbrella, there was nothing to be done but to be very much ashamed, and to get into the house as fast as possible; and to poor Miss Crawford, who had just been contemplating the dismal rain in a very desponding state of mind, sighing over the ruin of all her plan of exercise for that morning, and of every chance of seeing a single creature beyond themselves for the next twenty-four hours, the sound of a little bustle at the front door, and the sight of Miss Price dripping with wet in the vestibule, was delightful.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
An umbrella term used to describe several very different complex congenital heart defects that share the same problem: the heart has only one functional ventricle (anatomically right or left or indeterminate) supplying the systemic circulation.
(Common Ventricle Disorder, NCI Thesaurus)
Previous studies have linked being overweight with scoring lower on various measures of executive function, an umbrella term for several functions such as self-control, decision making, working memory (temporarily holding information for processing) and response to rewards.
(Childhood obesity linked to structural differences in key brain regions, University of Cambridge)
It is a picture, and I can see it now,—the jagged edges of the hole in the side of the cabin, through which the grey fog swirled and eddied; the empty upholstered seats, littered with all the evidences of sudden flight, such as packages, hand satchels, umbrellas, and wraps; the stout gentleman who had been reading my essay, encased in cork and canvas, the magazine still in his hand, and asking me with monotonous insistence if I thought there was any danger; the red-faced man, stumping gallantly around on his artificial legs and buckling life-preservers on all comers; and finally, the screaming bedlam of women.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
There are four umbrellas up already.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
"You'd better take the little umbrella, dear. It looks like rain," said her mother, observing that she had on her new bonnet, but not alluding to the fact.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
