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state

 - 7 dictionary results

state

  [steyt] ,noun, adjective, verb, stat⋅ed, stat⋅ing.
Use state in a Sentence
–noun
1. the condition of a person or thing, as with respect to circumstances or attributes: a state of health.
2. the condition of matter with respect to structure, form, constitution, phase, or the like: water in a gaseous state.
3. status, rank, or position in life; station: He dresses in a manner befitting his state.
4. the style of living befitting a person of wealth and high rank: to travel in state.
5. a particular condition of mind or feeling: to be in an excited state.
6. an abnormally tense, nervous, or perturbed condition: He's been in a state since hearing about his brother's death.
7. a politically unified people occupying a definite territory; nation.
8. the territory, or one of the territories, of a government.
9. (sometimes initial capital letter) any of the bodies politic which together make up a federal union, as in the United States of America.
10. the body politic as organized for civil rule and government (distinguished from church ).
11. the operations or activities of a central civil government: affairs of state.
12. (initial capital letter) Also called State Department. Informal. the Department of State.
13. Printing. a set of copies of an edition of a publication which differ from others of the same printing because of additions, corrections, or transpositions made during printing or at any time before publication.
14. the States, Informal. the United States (usually used outside its borders): After a year's study in Spain, he returned to the States.
–adjective
15. of or pertaining to the central civil government or authority.
16. made, maintained, or chartered by or under the authority of one of the commonwealths that make up a federal union: a state highway; a state bank.
17. characterized by, attended with, or involving ceremony: a state dinner.
18. used on or reserved for occasions of ceremony.
–verb (used with object)
19. to declare definitely or specifically: She stated her position on the case.
20. to set forth formally in speech or writing: to state a hypothesis.
21. to set forth in proper or definite form: to state a problem.
22. to say.
23. to fix or settle, as by authority.
—Idiom
24. lie in state, (of a corpse) to be exhibited publicly with honors before burial: The president's body lay in state for two days.
Origin:
1175–1225; ME stat (n.), partly aph. var. of estat estate, partly < L status condition (see status ); in defs. 7–11 < L status (rērum) state (of things) or status (reī pūblicae) state (of the republic)

Related forms:
stat⋅a⋅ble, state⋅a⋅ble, adjective

Synonyms:
1. State, condition, situation, status are terms for existing circumstances or surroundings. State is the general word, often with no concrete implications or material relationships: the present state of affairs. Condition carries an implication of a relationship to causes and circumstances: The conditions made flying impossible. Situation suggests an arrangement of circumstances, related to one another and to the character of a person: He was master of the situation. Status carries official or legal implications; it suggests a complete picture of interrelated circumstances as having to do with rank, position, standing, a stage reached in progress, etc.: the status of negotiations. 3. standing. 17. stately, ceremonial, imposing, dignified. 19. aver, assert, asseverate, affirm. See maintain. 23. determine.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To state
state   (stāt)   
n.  

  1. A condition or mode of being, as with regard to circumstances: a state of confusion.

  2. A condition of being in a stage or form, as of structure, growth, or development: the fetal state.

  3. A mental or emotional condition: in a manic state.

  4. Informal A condition of excitement or distress.

  5. Physics The condition of a physical system with regard to phase, form, composition, or structure: Ice is the solid state of water.

  6. Social position or rank.

  7. Ceremony; pomp: foreign leaders dining in state at the White House.

    1. The supreme public power within a sovereign political entity.

    2. The sphere of supreme civil power within a given polity: matters of state.

  9. A specific mode of government: the socialist state.

  10. A body politic, especially one constituting a nation: the states of Eastern Europe.

  11. One of the more or less internally autonomous territorial and political units composing a federation under a sovereign government: the 48 contiguous states of the Union.

adj.  

  1. Of or relating to a body politic or to an internally autonomous territorial or political unit constituting a federation under one government: a monarch dealing with state matters; the department that handles state security.

  2. Owned and operated by a state: state universities.

tr.v.   stat·ed, stat·ing, states
To set forth in words; declare.

[Middle English, from Old French estat, from Latin status; see stā- in Indo-European roots.]
stat'a·ble, state'a·ble adj.
Synonyms: These nouns denote the mode of being or form of existence of a person or thing: an old factory in a state of disrepair; a jogger in healthy condition; a police officer responding to a dangerous situation; the uncertain status of the peace negotiations.
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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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: state
Function: noun
often attrib 1 a : a politically organized body of people usually occupying a definite territory; especially : one that is sovereign b : the political organization that has supreme civil authority and political power and serves as the basis of government —see also compelling state interest at INTEREST 3a, SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE c : a government or politically organized society having a particular character state>
2 : the operations or concerns of the government of a country : the sphere of administration and supreme political power of a country (as in international relations) state> state>
3 a : one of the constituent units of a nation having a federal government; specifically : one of the fifty such units comprising the great part of the U.S. —see also STATE LAW b : the territory of a state
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: state
Pronunciation: 'stAt
Function: noun
: mode or condition of being: as a : condition of mind or temperament state> b : a condition or stage in the physical being of something state of water>
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

state (stāt)
n.
A condition or situation; status.

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

state storage, architecture, jargon, theory
How something is; its configuration, attributes, condition, or information content. The state of a system is usually temporary (i.e. it changes with time) and volatile (i.e. it will be lost or reset to some initial state if the system is switched off).
A state may be considered to be a point in some space of all possible states. A simple example is a light, which is either on or off. A complex example is the electrical activation in a human brain while solving a problem.
In computing and related fields, states, as in the light example, are often modelled as being discrete (rather than continuous) and the transition from one state to another is considered to be instantaneous. Another (related) property of a system is the number of possible states it may exhibit. This may be finite or infinite. A common model for a system with a finite number of discrete state is a finite state machine.
[The Jargon File]
(1996-10-13)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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Idioms & Phrases

state

In addition to the idiom beginning with state, also see in a lather (state); in state; ship of state.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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