branch
- a division or subdivision of the stem or axis of a tree, shrub, or other plant.
- a limb, offshoot, or ramification of any main stem: the branches of a deer's antlers.
- any member or part of a body or system; a section or subdivision: the various branches of learning.
- a local operating division of a business, library, or the like.
- a line of family descent stemming from a particular ancestor, as distinguished from some other line or lines from the same stock; a division of a family.
- a tributary stream or any stream that is not a large river or a bayou.
- Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S. branch water(def 2).
- Linguistics. (in the classification of related languages within a family) a category of a lower order than a subfamily and of a higher order than a subbranch or a group, as the Germanic branch of Indo-European.Compare group(def 4a).
- Computers. a point in a computer program where the computer selects one of two or more instructions to execute, according to some criterion.
- Nautical. a warrant or license permitting a pilot to navigate in certain waters.
- to put forth branches; spread in branches.
- to divide into separate parts or subdivisions; diverge: The main road branches off to the left.
- to expand or extend, as business activities: The bank has plans to branch throughout the state.
- to divide into branches or sections.
- to adorn with needlework; decorate with embroidery, as in textile fabrics.
- branch out, to expand or extend, as business activities, pursuits, interests, etc.: The business is branching out into computers.
Origin of branch
Synonyms for branch
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comSynonym study
-branch
- a combining form for forming nouns and adjectives that denote gill formations or animals having gill formations.
Origin of -branch
Related Words for branch
chapter, division, office, section, wing, member, bureau, subsidiary, arm, category, subdivision, extension, classification, annex, portion, dependency, connection, part, derivative, tributaryExamples from the Web for branch
Contemporary Examples of branch
Branch helped women feel beautiful by encouraging them to embrace their natural selves as she had.
Goodbye To A Natural Hair Guru: Miss Jessie's Cofounder Titi Branch Dead At 45Danielle Belton
December 16, 2014
Branch grew up in Queens, NY, the daughter of an African American man and a Japanese woman.
Goodbye To A Natural Hair Guru: Miss Jessie's Cofounder Titi Branch Dead At 45Danielle Belton
December 16, 2014
But at 45, Branch died of a reported suicide, leaving behind family, friends and a legacy that goes beyond the beauty industry.
Goodbye To A Natural Hair Guru: Miss Jessie's Cofounder Titi Branch Dead At 45Danielle Belton
December 16, 2014
His case was sent to Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court presided over by Judge Salavati.
In other words, the Supreme Court has defined democracy as a branch of capitalism, right up to the point of actual vote-buying.
Historical Examples of branch
Caricature, by the way, is a branch of Georgian Art which M. Rouquet neglects.
De Libris: Prose and VerseAustin Dobson
Just as he dropped a branch down at her feet, she caught the sound of wheels.
The Little ColonelAnnie Fellows Johnston
Lieutenant Ford was wounded and a branch of an artery was cut.
The Story of the Malakand Field ForceSir Winston S. Churchill
At this moment, the note of a bird sounded from the branch of a neighboring tree.
Tanglewood TalesNathaniel Hawthorne
Accordingly, Jason took the branch at its word, and lopped it off the tree.
Tanglewood TalesNathaniel Hawthorne
branch
- a secondary woody stem arising from the trunk or bough of a tree or the main stem of a shrub
- a subdivision of the stem or root of any other plant
- an offshoot or secondary parta branch of a deer's antlers
- a subdivision or subsidiary section of something larger or more complexbranches of learning; branch of the family
- (as modifier)a branch office
- US any small stream
- maths a section of a curve separated from the rest of the curve by discontinuities or special points
- Also called: jump computing a departure from the normal sequence of programmed instructions into a separate program area
- an alternative route in an atomic or nuclear decay series
- (intr) (of a tree or other plant) to produce or possess branches
- (intr usually foll by from) (of stems, roots, etc) to grow and diverge (from another part)
- to divide or be divided into subsidiaries or offshoots
- (intr often foll by off) to diverge from the main way, road, topic, etc
Word Origin for branch
Word Origin and History for branch
c.1300, braunch, "limb of a tree" (also used of things analogous to it, especially geographic features), from Old French branche "branch, bough, twig; branch of a family" (12c.), from Late Latin branca "footprint," later "a claw, paw," of unknown origin, probably from Gaulish. The connecting notion would be the shape (cf. pedigree). Replaced native bough. Meaning "local office of a business" is first recorded 1817, from earlier sense of "component part of a system" (1690s).
"send out shoots or new limbs," late 14c., also, of blood vessels, family trees, etc., "to be forked," from branch (n.). Meaning "to spread out from a center, radiate" is from c.1400. Related: Branched; branching.
branch
(brănch)- An offshoot or a division of the main portion of a structure, especially that of a nerve, blood vessel, or lymphatic vessel; a ramus.
Idioms and Phrases with branch
branch
In addition to the idioms beginning with branch
- branch off
- branch out
also see:
- olive branch
- root and branch