the action of perverting something (turning it to a wrong use); "it was a perversion of justice"
an aberrant sexual practice that is preferred to normal intercourse
a curve that reverses the direction of something; "the tendrils of the plant exhibited perversion"; "perversion also shows up in kinky telephone cords"
the act of distorting something so it seems to mean something it was not intended to mean
a change for the worse
a change (usually undesired) in the waveform of an acoustic or analog electrical signal; the difference between two measurements of a signal (as between the input and output signal); "heavy metal guitar players use vacuum tube amplifiers to produce extreme distortion"
(law) an explanation of the fundamental reasons (especially an explanation of the working of some device in terms of laws of nature); "the rationale for capital punishment"; "the principles of internal-combustion engines"
any personal belief about how to live or how to deal with a situation; "self-indulgence was his only philosophy"; "my father's philosophy of child-rearing was to let mother do it"
the rational investigation of questions about existence and knowledge and ethics
of a proposition that is necessarily true independent of fact or experience; "`all spinsters are unmarried' is an analytic proposition"
expressing a grammatical category by using two or more words rather than inflection
using or skilled in using analysis (i.e., separating a whole--intellectual or substantial--into its elemental parts or basic principles); "an analytic experiment"; "an analytic approach"; "a keenly analytic man"; "analytical reasoning"; "an analytical mind"
using or subjected to a methodology using algebra and calculus; "analytic statics"
(Bible) an agreement between God and his people in which God makes certain promises and requires certain behavior from them in return
a signed written agreement between two or more parties (nations) to perform some action
enter into a covenant or formal agreement; "They covenanted with Judas for 30 pieces of silver"; "The nations covenanted to fight terrorism around the world"
being or characterized by concepts or their formation; "conceptual discussions"; "the schizophrenic loses ability to abstract or do conceptual thinking"; "sex is a notional category, gender is a grammatical category"
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"
someone who adheres to strict religious principles; someone opposed to sensual pleasures
a member of a group of English Protestants who in the 16th and 17th centuries thought that the Protestant Reformation under Elizabeth was incomplete and advocated the simplification and regulation of forms of worship
an ability to understand the meaning or importance of something (or the knowledge acquired as a result); "how you can do that is beyond my comprehension"; "he was famous for his comprehension of American literature"
the capacity for rational thought or inference or discrimination; "we are told that man is endowed with reason and capable of distinguishing good from evil"
a fact that logically justifies some premise or conclusion; "there is reason to believe he is lying"
an explanation of the cause of some phenomenon; "the reason a steady state was never reached was that the back pressure built up too slowly"
a rational motive for a belief or action; "the reason that war was declared"; "the grounds for their declaration"
think logically; "The children must learn to reason"
decide by reasoning; draw or come to a conclusion; "We reasoned that it was cheaper to rent than to buy a house"
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"