a telephone directory or section of a directory (usually printed on yellow paper) where business products and services are listed alphabetically by field along with classified advertising
something unspecified whose name is either forgotten or not known; "she eased the ball-shaped doodad back into its socket"; "there may be some great new gizmo around the corner that you will want to use"
(computer science) the area of the screen in graphical user interfaces against which icons and windows appear
a person's social heritage: previous experience or training; "he is a lawyer with a sports background"
information that is essential to understanding a situation or problem; "the embassy filled him in on the background of the incident"
the part of a scene (or picture) that lies behind objects in the foreground; "he posed her against a background of rolling hills"
relatively unimportant or inconspicuous accompanying situation; "when the rain came he could hear the sound of thunder in the background"
extraneous signals that can be confused with the phenomenon to be observed or measured; "they got a bad connection and could hardly hear one another over the background signals"
understate the importance or quality of; "he played down his royal ancestry"
a difference that is usually pleasant; "he goes to France for variety"; "it is a refreshing change to meet a woman mechanic"
(biology) a taxonomic category consisting of members of a species that differ from others of the same species in minor but heritable characteristics; "varieties are frequently recognized in botany"
the solid bony part of the tail of an animal as distinguished from the hair
landing in a harbor next to a pier where ships are loaded and unloaded or repaired; may have gates to let water in or out; "the ship arrived at the dock more than a day late"
an enclosure in a court of law where the defendant sits during the trial
a platform where trucks or trains can be loaded or unloaded
any of certain coarse weedy plants with long taproots, sometimes used as table greens or in folk medicine
the act of starting something; "he was responsible for the beginning of negotiations"
the first part or section of something; "`It was a dark and stormy night' is a hackneyed beginning for a story"
the event consisting of the start of something; "the beginning of the war"
the place where something begins, where it springs into being; "the Italian beginning of the Renaissance"; "Jupiter was the origin of the radiation"; "Pittsburgh is the source of the Ohio River"; "communism's Russian root"
the time at which something is supposed to begin; "they got an early start"; "she knew from the get-go that he was the man for her"