du⋅plex
[doo-pleks, dyoo-]
| 1. | duplex apartment. |
| 2. | duplex house. |
| 3. | paper or cardboard having different colors, finishes, or stocks on opposite sides. |
| 4. | Printing.
|
| 5. | Genetics. a double-stranded region of DNA. |
| 6. | having two parts; double; twofold. |
| 7. | (of a machine) having two identical working units, operating together or independently, in a single framework or assembly. |
| 8. | pertaining to or noting a telecommunications system, as most telephone systems, permitting the simultaneous transmission of two messages in opposite directions over one channel. |
| 9. | to make duplex; make or change into a duplex: Many owners are duplexing their old houses for extra income. |
duplex apartment
| an apartment with rooms on two connected floors. |
duplex house
| a house having separate apartments for two families, esp. a two-story house having a complete apartment on each floor and two separate entrances. |
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Duplex
Du"plex\, a. [L., fr. duo two + plicare to fold. See Two, and Complex.] Double; twofold. Duplex escapement, a peculiar kind of watch escapement, in which the scape-wheel has two sets of teeth. See Escapement. Duplex lathe, one for turning off, screwing, and surfacing, by means of two cutting tools, on opposite sides of the piece operated upon. Duplex pumping engine, a steam pump in which two steam cylinders are placed side by side, one operating the valves of the other. Duplex querela [L., double complaint] (Eccl. Law), a complaint in the nature of an appeal from the ordinary to his immediate superior, as from a bishop to an archbishop. --Mozley & W. Duplex telegraphy, a system of telegraphy for sending two messages over the same wire simultaneously. Duplex watch, one with a duplex escapement.Duplex
Du"plex\, v. t. [See Duplex, a.] (Teleg.) To arrange, as a telegraph line, so that two messages may be transmitted simultaneously; to equip with a duplex telegraphic outfit.Cite This Source
duplex
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Main Entry: du·plex
Pronunciation: 'd(y)ü-"pleks
Function: noun
: a molecule having two complementary polynucleotide strands of DNA or of DNAand RNA —duplex adjective
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duplex communications
Used to describe a communications channel that can carry signals in both directions, in contrast to a simplex channel which only ever carries a signal in one direction.
If signals can only flow in one direction at a time the communications is "half-duplex", like a single-lane road with traffic lights at each end. Walkie-talkies with a "press-to-talk" button provide half-duplex communications.
If signals can flow in both directions simultaneously the communications is "full-duplex", like a normal two-lane road. Telephones provide full-duplex communications.
The term "duplex" was first used in wireless, telegraph, and telephone communications. Nearly all communications circuits used by computers are two-way, so the term is seldom used.
(http://cit.ac.nz/smac/dc100www/dc_014.htm).
(2001-07-21)
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