official permission or approval; "authority for the program was renewed several times"
the power or right to give orders or make decisions; "he has the authority to issue warrants"; "deputies are given authorization to make arrests"; "a place of potency in the state"
an authoritative written work; "this book is the final authority on the life of Milton"
an expert whose views are taken as definitive; "he is an authority on corporate law"
(usually plural) persons who exercise (administrative) control over others; "the authorities have issued a curfew"
something settled or resolved; the outcome of decision making; "the finally reached a settlement with the union"; "they never did achieve a final resolution of their differences"; "he needed to grieve before he could achieve a sense of closure"
a conclusive resolution of a matter and disposition of it
the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience; "the gist of the prosecutor's argument"; "the heart and soul of the Republican Party"; "the nub of the story"
a single whole grain of a cereal; "a kernel of corn"
the inner and usually edible part of a seed or grain or nut or fruit stone; "black walnut kernels are difficult to get out of the shell"
a unifying idea that is a recurrent element in a literary or artistic work; "it was the usual `boy gets girl' theme"
(music) melodic subject of a musical composition; "the theme is announced in the first measures"; "the accompanist picked up the idea and elaborated it"
provide with a particular theme or motive; "the restaurant often themes its menus"
(in an election with more than 2 options) the number of votes for the candidate or party receiving the greatest number (but less that half of the votes)
the state of being plural; "to mark plurality, one language may add an extra syllable to the word whereas another may simply change the vowel in the existing final syllable"
sports equipment used in calisthenic exercises and weightlifting; it is not attached to anything and is raised and lowered by use of the hands and arms
the vertical force exerted by a mass as a result of gravity
the relative importance granted to something; "his opinion carries great weight"; "the progression implied an increasing weightiness of the items listed"
an oppressive feeling of heavy force; "bowed down by the weight of responsibility"
(statistics) a coefficient assigned to elements of a frequency distribution in order to represent their relative importance
demand for something as rightful or due; "they struck in support of their claim for a shorter work day"
an informal right to something; "his claim on her attentions"; "his title to fame"
an assertion of a right (as to money or property); "his claim asked for damages"
an assertion that something is true or factual; "his claim that he was innocent"; "evidence contradicted the government's claims"
take as an undesirable consequence of some event or state of affairs; "the accident claimed three lives"; "The hard work took its toll on her"
assert or affirm strongly; state to be true or existing; "He claimed that he killed the burglar"
lay claim to; as of an idea; "She took credit for the whole idea"
ask for legally or make a legal claim to, as of debts, for example; "They claimed on the maximum allowable amount"
demand as being one's due or property; assert one's right or title to; "He claimed his suitcases at the airline counter"; "Mr. Smith claims special tax exemptions because he is a foreign resident"
Siberian peasant monk who was religious advisor in the court of Nicholas II; was assassinated by Russian noblemen who feared that his debauchery would weaken the monarchy (1872-1916)