a variable quantity that can be resolved into components
any agent (person or animal or microorganism) that carries and transmits a disease; "mosquitos are vectors of malaria and yellow fever"; "fleas are vectors of the plague"; "aphids are transmitters of plant diseases"; "when medical scientists talk about vectors they are usually talking about insects"
a straight line segment whose length is magnitude and whose orientation in space is direction
(used especially of fur or wool) shaped or finished by cutting or trimming to a uniform length; "a coat of sheared lamb"
having the hair or wool cut or clipped off as if with shears or clippers; "picked up the baby's shorn curls from the floor"; "naked as a sheared sheep"
of or relating to different levels in a hierarchy (as levels of social class or income group); "vertical social mobility"
at right angles to the plane of the horizon or a base line; "a vertical camera angle"; "the monument consists of two vertical pillars supporting a horizontal slab"; "measure the perpendicular height"
relating to or involving all stages of a business from production to distribution
precisely and clearly expressed or readily observable; leaving nothing to implication; "explicit instructions"; "she made her wishes explicit"; "explicit sexual scenes"