any measurable property of a device measured under closely specified conditions
the integer part (positive or negative) of the representation of a logarithm; in the expression log 643 = 2.808 the characteristic is 2
typical or distinctive; "heard my friend's characteristic laugh"; "red and gold are the characteristic colors of autumn"; "stripes characteristic of the zebra"
(used informally especially for emphasis); "a real honest-to-god live cowboy"; "had us a high old time"; "went upriver to look at a sure-enough fish wheel"
happening or arising or located within some limits or especially surface; "internal organs"; "internal mechanism of a toy"; "internal party maneuvering"
occurring within an institution or community; "intragroup squabbling within the corporation"
an object of dread or apprehension; "Germany was always a bugbear for France"; "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds"--Ralph Waldo Emerson
any of the more than 100 known substances (of which 92 occur naturally) that cannot be separated into simpler substances and that singly or in combination constitute all matter