selection

American  

[si-lek-shuhn] / sɪˈlɛk ʃən /

noun

• selections
  plural

1. an act or instance of selecting or the state of being selected; choice.

   Antonyms:

   rejection

2. a thing or a number of things selected.

   Synonyms:

   pick, gathering, collection

3. an aggregate of things displayed for choice, purchase, use, etc.; a group from which a choice may be made.

   The store had a wide selection of bracelets.

4. Biology. any natural or artificial process that results in differential reproduction among the members of a population so that the inheritable traits of only certain individuals are passed on, or are passed on in greater proportion, to succeeding generations.

5. Linguistics.

   1. the choice of one form instead of another in a position where either can occur, as of ask instead of tell or with in the phrase ask me.

   2. the choice of one semantic or syntactic class of words in a construction, to the exclusion of others that do not occur there, as the choice of an animate object for the verb surprise.

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selection British  

/ sɪˈlɛkʃən /

noun

1. the act or an instance of selecting or the state of being selected

2. a thing or number of things that have been selected

3. a range from which something may be selected

   this shop has a good selection of clothes

4. biology the natural or artificial process by which certain organisms or characters are reproduced and perpetuated in the species in preference to others See also natural selection

5. a contestant in a race chosen as likely to win or come second or third

6. 1. the act of free-selecting

   2. a tract of land acquired by free-selection

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonselection
  noun
• reselection
  noun
• superselection
  noun
• selectional
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• selections
  plural

Etymology

Origin of selection

First recorded in 1640–50; from Latin sēlēctiōn-, stem of sēlēctiō; equivalent to select + -ion

Explanation

Selection is all about choosing. Think about a salad bar: you can make a selection from among several choices, with croutons always being a popular selection. Inside selection is the word select, "to choose." Selection means the act of choosing, the thing chosen, or the offerings to be chosen from among. Selection can also mean a passage excerpted (or selected) from a longer text. Church services often involve reading a day's selection from the Bible.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

selection selections

The English Chess Federation said that selection, when she was nine, made her the youngest person to represent England internationally in any sport.

From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026

Months after helping the Patriots to a surprise Super Bowl appearance, the third-year player and two-time Pro Bowl selection is not playing close to the standard he established last year.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026

Walmart raised prices slightly for much of its motor-oil selection earlier this summer, a company spokeswoman said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026

Japanese cooks are working with a brand-new selection of seafood, since El Nino has altered ocean migratory routes.

From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026

Galton’s idea was simple: he would mimic the mechanism of natural selection.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

After Clara died in 1896, her eldest daughter, Marie, purged even more, sharing only limited selections of Clara’s diaries with Clara’s biographer.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

But she was ultimately vindicated, especially with her wildcard selections, which also included relative veteran Leona Maguire.

From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026

AI answered correctly, saying that complaints are not publicly published but that there are Medicare star ratings that can be helpful in making selections.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 28, 2026

And to do it, they’re clipping some flabbergasting selections from their media libraries and pumping them out into vertical videos.

From Salon ● Aug. 27, 2026

“No, I know that. I didn’t think you read comics, though. I mean, your reading selections are always so literary,” I said.

From "Here to Stay" by Sara Farizan

Related Words

• choice
• collection
• draft
• election
• excerpt
• option
• pick