the quality of being difficult to do; "he assigned a series of problems of increasing hardness"; "the ruggedness of his exams caused half the class to fail"
the property of being rigid and resistant to pressure; not easily scratched; measured on Mohs scale
instrumentality that combines interrelated interacting artifacts designed to work as a coherent entity; "he bought a new stereo system"; "the system consists of a motor and a small computer"
the living body considered as made up of interdependent components forming a unified whole; "exercise helped him get the alcohol out of his system"
a group of physiologically or anatomically related organs or parts; "the body has a system of organs for digestion"
a complex of methods or rules governing behavior; "they have to operate under a system they oppose"; "that language has a complex system for indicating gender"
a procedure or process for obtaining an objective; "they had to devise a system that did not depend on cooperation"
a group of independent but interrelated elements comprising a unified whole; "a vast system of production and distribution and consumption keep the country going"
(physical chemistry) a sample of matter in which substances in different phases are in equilibrium; "in a static system oil cannot be replaced by water on a surface"; "a system generating hydrogen peroxide"
earnest and conscientious activity intended to do or accomplish something; "made an effort to cover all the reading material"; "wished him luck in his endeavor"; "she gave it a good try"
a formal public statement; "the government made an announcement about changes in the drug war"; "a declaration of independence"
a public statement about something that is happening or going to happen; "the announcement appeared in the local newspaper"; "the promulgation was written in English"
the faculty of contriving; inventive skill; "his skillful contrivance of answers to every problem"
an artificial or unnatural or obviously contrived arrangement of details or parts etc.; "the plot contained too many improbable contrivances to be believable"
an elaborate or deceitful scheme contrived to deceive or evade; "his testimony was just a contrivance to throw us off the track"