neural network
Americannoun
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any group of neurons that conduct impulses in a coordinated manner, as the assemblages of brain cells that record a visual stimulus.
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Also called neural net. Computers. a hardware or software system in which weighted connections between data nodes are refined to produce increasingly accurate results in information processing, as in pattern recognition or problem solving, with the goal of algorithmic computing that requires minimal human intervention.
noun
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an interconnected system of neurons, as in the brain or other parts of the nervous system
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Also called: neural net. an analogous network of electronic components, esp one in a computer designed to mimic the operation of the human brain
Etymology
Origin of neural network
First recorded in 1985–90
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"We specifically wanted to incorporate a neural network model into this study to evaluate how accurate the descriptors were at capturing key structural information, in a way that is like human cognition."
From Science Daily ● Jul. 8, 2026
“Remember, when you’re building a neural network, every GPU needs to have a path to every other GPU in the cluster,” Weeks says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
Instead of training a neural network entirely on the most complex and computationally costly simulations, the team first trained it on simpler simulations based on ΛCDM.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 11, 2026
And in 2024 researchers at Harvard University developed a neural network model called TxGNN to surface existing drugs which could be used to treat rare conditions.
From BBC ● May 22, 2026
Until the middle of the nineteenth century that thinking symbolized the prevailing scientific thought about the human neural network.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
