Dictionary Thesaurus Word Dynamo Quotes Reference Translator Spanish

serial

[seer-ee-uhl]

noun

anything published, broadcast, etc., in short installments at regular intervals, as a novel appearing in successive issues of a magazine.

Library Science. a publication in any medium issued in successive parts bearing numerical or chronological designation and intended to be continued indefinitely.

adjective

published in installments or successive parts: a serial story.

pertaining to such publication.

of, pertaining to, consisting of, or occurring in a series rather than simultaneously: Some societies condemn both polygamy and serial marriages.

effecting or producing a series; sequential: The police think a serial killer is responsible for five homicides in this city last month.

Computers.

of or pertaining to the apparent or actual performance of data-processing operations one at a time (distinguished from parallel).

of or pertaining to the transmission or processing of each part of a whole in sequence, as each bit of a byte or each byte of a computer word (distinguished from parallel).

EXPAND

Music. of, pertaining to, or composed in serial technique.

COLLAPSE

:10

:09

:08

:07

:06

:05

:04

:03

:02

:01

Serial is always a great word to know.

So is interrobang. Does it mean:

a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.

a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.

LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...

Origin:
1835–45; < Neo-Latin seriālis. See series, -al¹

Related forms

se·ri·al·ly, adverb

non·se·ri·al, noun, adjective

non·se·ri·al·ly, adverb

Can be confused: cereal, serial.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source

Link To serial

Example Sentences

No suspect has been named, but authorities have raised the possibility that the deaths are the work of one or more serial killers.

Campbell describes himself as a global serial entrepreneur and professional investor in science and technology.

State intervention has so far failed to tackle serial criminals, while pointlessly and expensively locking up too many petty ones.

EXPAND

No suspect has been named, but authorities have raised the possibility that the deaths are the work of one or more serial killers.

Campbell describes himself as a global serial entrepreneur and professional investor in science and technology.

State intervention has so far failed to tackle serial criminals, while pointlessly and expensively locking up too many petty ones.

Genetic data suggest what scientists call a serial founder effect.

Believe it or not, bees forage in a similar geographic pattern to that of serial killers committing crimes.

Serial entrepreneurs could retire when they cash out of a thriving business.

The rules of monographic cataloging differ from serial cataloging.

Indeed, should a bank want to, it could match every note it issued against its printed serial number.

Theories of serial killers, plane crashes and tsunami victims have been suggested.

But my life doesn't overlap much with singles, serial monogamists, or divorcees.

For serial renovators, a compulsive drive to get it right.

Many arrested serial killers took part in the test and answered the question correctly.

Serial numbers on forearms have also historically worked.

During one case, he said, eight cats lived inside the home of a suspected serial murderer.

So when you factor serial marriages into the equation the divorce rate starts looking a lot better.

They still do, but with serial appointments no rarity, they've also become a job bank for otherwise unemployed young scientists.

One of the serial stories was about his five marriages and their consequences.

Inside, scientists found three stamps and a serial number that will lead to detailed information about the manufacturer.

Serial production in a factory is much less expensive than custom building out in the field.

Clinging onto the idea of serial monogamy is irrational thinking.

The result is unemployment, and serial credit crises.

They are serial defecators, and their cannonball-size droppings and barnyard aroma seem to be everywhere.

Gibbs would more than likely become a serial killer or an incredible hunter.

Initially thought to be the result of tribal warfare, or the work of a serial killer, the.

It took far less than it might have because the former owner had the interior decorating tastes of a serial killer.

Drag a photo onto the box and it will search for other pictures with your camera's serial number.

The few who go behind bars-usually serial offenders, or suspected dealers-do an average of three months.

To do this we'd need to be able to read the serial number off the lunar lander from earth.

Since serial murder became a form of celluloid entertainment, its busiest bogeymen have shown a talent for regeneration.

So send a letter with name, rank, and serial number.

Good point regarding sociopathic behavior, which seems to me to be common among serial killers.

You'll have to use these abilities to hunt down the serial killer that may or may not have killed her brother.

The serial number had been scratched off, but federal agents traced it to the.

Should a bank want to, it would be able to match every note it issued with the serial number printed on it.

However, the clerks will also no longer be required to work from a serial list of file requests:.

Zeus, the divine male paragon who also happens to be a serial rapist with a wicked tendency to make and break homes.

Concerned that they were dealing with a serial child rapist, police reopened the case.

Xstrata, whose history is one of serial dealmaking, would doubtless have liked to hang on to the mine.

Look at that poor animal with a serial number on him, which in our society, suggests he is a crimminal and did something wrong.

She's a serial gadget-dropper, so her concerns are understandable.

Arguments rage over which chain reaction would be more damaging: serial bail-outs or serial defaults.

Our parallel computers and especially serial ones cannot hope to match this.

If growth recovers, the hole left by years of serial tax-cutting and overspending can be plugged:.

It's horribly cloying and cynical-and both of its stars are serial offenders.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

serial (ˈsɪərɪəl)

—n
1.	a novel, play, etc, presented in separate instalments at regular intervals
2.	a publication, usually regularly issued and consecutively numbered

—*adj*
3.	of, relating to, or resembling a series
4.	published or presented as a serial
5.	of or relating to such publication or presentation
6.	computing Compare parallel of or operating on items of information, instructions, etc, in the order in which they occur
7.	of, relating to, or using the techniques of serialism
8.	logic, maths See also ordering (of a relation) connected, transitive, and asymmetric, thereby imposing an order on all the members of the domain, as less than on the natural numbers

[C19: from New Latin seriālis, from Latin seriēsseries]

'serially

—*adv*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

serial

1840, from series (q.v.), popularized in ref. to Dickens' novels, published one part at a time (as opposed to all at once, in a book). Found to be a useful word and given wide application. The noun is attested from 1846. Serial number first recorded 1935. Serial killer is

EXPAND

first attested 1981 (in relation to John Wayne Gacy and Ted Bundy), though serial had been used in connection with murders since the early 1960s.

COLLAPSE

FOLDOC

Computing Dictionary

serial definition

1. serial communications
2. serial processor.

Word Dynamo By Dictionary.com

Searching for serial?
How many words do you actually know?

FIND OUT

back number cliff-hanger continuation episode folio identification tag

Matching Quote

"An autobiography is an obituary in serial form with the last instalment missing."

-Quentin Crisp

Partners:Word Bloglines Citysearch The Daily Beast Ask Answers Ask Kids Life123 Sendori Thesaurus

About Privacy Policy Terms of Use API Careers Advertise with Us Contact Us Help