your overall circumstances or condition in life (including everything that happens to you); "whatever my fortune may be"; "deserved a better fate"; "has a happy lot"; "the luck of the Irish"; "a victim of circumstances"; "success that was her portion"
the repetition of an experiment in order to test the validity of its conclusion; "scientists will not believe an experimental result until they have seen at least one replication"
(law) a pleading made by a plaintiff in reply to the defendant's plea or answer
(genetics) the process whereby DNA makes a copy of itself before cell division
a belief that can guide behavior; "the architect has a theory that more is less"; "they killed him on the theory that dead men tell no tales"
a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world; an organized system of accepted knowledge that applies in a variety of circumstances to explain a specific set of phenomena; "theories can incorporate facts and laws and tested hypotheses"; "true in fact and theory"
the discipline that studies the principles of transmiting information and the methods by which it is delivered (as print or radio or television etc.); "communications is his major field of study"
a set of techniques for exploring underlying motives and a method of treating various mental disorders; based on the theories of Sigmund Freud; "his physician recommended psychoanalysis"
(biology) the field of science concerned with processes of communication and control (especially the comparison of these processes in biological and artificial systems)
the branch of quantum physics that accounts for matter at the atomic level; an extension of statistical mechanics based on quantum theory (especially the Pauli exclusion principle)
(chemistry) any theory in which all matter is composed of tiny discrete finite indivisible indestructible particles; "the ancient Greek philosophers Democritus and Epicurus held atomic theories of the universe"
(psychology) a theory that reduces all mental phenomena to simple elements (sensations and feelings) that form complex ideas by association
living things collectively; "the oceans are teeming with life"
the experience of being alive; the course of human events and activities; "he could no longer cope with the complexities of life"
a motive for living; "pottery was his life"
a living person; "his heroism saved a life"
the organic phenomenon that distinguishes living organisms from nonliving ones; "there is no life on the moon"
the course of existence of an individual; the actions and events that occur in living; "he hoped for a new life in Australia"; "he wanted to live his own life without interference from others"
a characteristic state or mode of living; "social life"; "city life"; "real life"
the period during which something is functional (as between birth and death); "the battery had a short life"; "he lived a long and happy life"
the period between birth and the present time; "I have known him all his life"
the period from the present until death; "he appointed himself emperor for life"
a statement that makes something comprehensible by describing the relevant structure or operation or circumstances etc.; "the explanation was very simple"; "I expected a brief account"
the act of explaining; making something plain or intelligible; "I heard his explanation of the accident"