the act of pairing a male and female for reproductive purposes; "the casual couplings of adolescents"; "the mating of some species occurs only in the spring"
a mechanical device that serves to connect the ends of adjacent objects
an unstable construction with playing cards; "he built three levels of his cardcastle before it collapsed"
a speculative scheme that depends on unstable factors that the planner cannot control; "his proposal was nothing but a house of cards"; "a real estate bubble"
a person held in the grip of a strong emotion or passion
giving or marked by complete attention to; "that engrossed look or rapt delight"; "then wrapped in dreams"; "so intent on this fantastic...narrative that she hardly stirred"- Walter de la Mare; "rapt with wonder"; "wrapped in thought"
something that is communicated by or to or between people or groups
the activity of communicating; the activity of conveying information; "they could not act without official communication from Moscow"
a connection allowing access between persons or places; "how many lines of communication can there be among four people?"; "a secret passageway provided communication between the two rooms"
fruit (especially peach) whose flesh adheres strongly to the pit
hold on tightly or tenaciously; "hang on to your father's hands"; "The child clung to his mother's apron"
come or be in close contact with; stick or hold together and resist separation; "The dress clings to her body"; "The label stuck to the box"; "The sushi rice grains cohere"
to remain emotionally or intellectually attached; "He clings to the idea that she might still love him."
(music) the section of a movement (especially in sonata form) where the major musical themes first occur
an account that sets forth the meaning or intent of a writing or discourse; "we would have understood the play better if there had been some initial exposition of the background"
a systematic interpretation or explanation (usually written) of a specific topic
a sound or television recording (e.g., from a broadcast to a tape recording)
something written, especially copied from one medium to another, as a typewritten version of dictation
(genetics) the organic process whereby the DNA sequence in a gene is copied into mRNA; the process whereby a base sequence of messenger RNA is synthesized on a template of complementary DNA
diffusion of molecules through a semipermeable membrane from a place of higher concentration to a place of lower concentration until the concentration on both sides is equal
a restriction that is insisted upon as a condition for an agreement
(law) an agreement or concession made by parties in a judicial proceeding (or by their attorneys) relating to the business before the court; must be in writing unless they are part of the court record; "a stipulation of fact was made in order to avoid delay"
manual turning of a fetus in the uterus (usually to aid delivery)
something a little different from others of the same type; "an experimental version of the night fighter"; "a variant of the same word"; "an emery wheel is the modern variation of a grindstone"; "the boy is a younger edition of his father"
an interpretation of a matter from a particular viewpoint; "his version of the fight was different from mine"