binary system
Americannoun
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a system involving only two elements, as 0 and 1 or yes and no.
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Mathematics. a system of counting or measurement whose units are powers of two.
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Astronomy. binary star.
Etymology
Origin of binary system
First recorded in 1825–35
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.
This discovery also confirms a long-predicted type of binary system that had never been clearly identified.
From Science Daily • Mar. 25, 2026
The new research found that the impact also expelled enough material from the binary system to slightly alter its path around the Sun.
From Science Daily • Mar. 9, 2026
Though he takes a minute to upbraid her, they’re obviously the show’s binary system, and Decker is in any case a cheery sort who takes things in stride — even prison, seemingly.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 3, 2026
This strange new world orbits around two stars at once, which dance around each other in what astronomers call a binary system.
From Space Scoop • May 6, 2025
If the orbit of a binary system lies edgewise toward us, then one star will hide the other each revolution, moving across it and appearing on the other side.
From Scientific American Supplement, No. 288, July 9, 1881 by Various
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.
