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criticality

 - 4 dictionary results

crit⋅i⋅cal

  [krit-i-kuhl]
Use criticality in a Sentence
–adjective
1. inclined to find fault or to judge with severity, often too readily.
2. occupied with or skilled in criticism.
3. involving skillful judgment as to truth, merit, etc.; judicial: a critical analysis.
4. of or pertaining to critics or criticism: critical essays.
5. providing textual variants, proposed emendations, etc.: a critical edition of Chaucer.
6. pertaining to or of the nature of a crisis: a critical shortage of food.
7. of decisive importance with respect to the outcome; crucial: a critical moment.
8. of essential importance; indispensable: a critical ingredient.
9. Medicine/Medical. (of a patient's condition) having unstable and abnormal vital signs and other unfavorable indicators, as loss of appetite, poor mobility, or unconsciousness.
10. Physics.
a. pertaining to a state, value, or quantity at which one or more properties of a substance or system undergo a change.
b. (of fissionable material) having enough mass to sustain a chain reaction.
Origin:
1580–90; critic + -al 1

Related forms:
crit⋅i⋅cal⋅ly, adverb
crit⋅i⋅cal⋅i⋅ty, crit⋅i⋅cal⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
1. captious, censorious, carping, faultfinding, caviling. 3. discriminating, exact, precise.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To criticality
crit·i·cal·i·ty   (krĭt'ĭ-kāl'ĭ-tē)   
n.   pl. crit·i·cal·i·ties

  1. The quality, state, or degree of being of the highest importance: "The challenge of our future food supply is approaching criticality" (New York Times).

  2. Physics The point at which a nuclear reaction is self-sustaining.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: crit·i·cal
Pronunciation: 'krit-i-k&l
Function: adjective
1 a : relating to, indicating, or being the stage of adisease at which an abrupt change for better or worse may be anticipated with reasonable certainty critical phase of a fever> b : being or relating to an illness orcondition involving danger of death <critical care> critical head injury>
2 a : of sufficient size to sustain a chain reaction —used of a mass offissionable material b : sustaining a chain reaction —used of a nuclear reactor —crit·i·cal·ly /-k(&-)lE/ adverb
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

critical crit·i·cal (krĭt'ĭ-kəl)
adj.

  1. Of or relating to a medical crisis.

  2. Being or relating to a grave physical condition especially of a patient.

  3. Of or relating to the value of a measurement, such as temperature, at which an abrupt change in a chemical of physical quality, property, or state occurs.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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