concentration

American  

[kon-suhn-trey-shuhn] / ˌkɒn sənˈtreɪ ʃən /

noun

1. the act of concentrating; the state of being concentrated.

2. exclusive attention to one object; close mental application.

3. something concentrated.

   a concentration of stars.

4. Military.

   1. the assembling of military or naval forces in a particular area in preparation for further operations.

   2. a specified intensity and duration of artillery fire placed on a small area.

5. the focusing of a student's academic program on advanced study in a specific subject or field.

6. Chemistry. (in a solution) a measure of the amount of dissolved substance contained per unit of volume.

7. Also called memory.  Cards. a game in which all 52 cards are spread out face down on the table and each player in turn exposes two cards at a time and replaces them face down if they do not constitute a pair, the object being to take the most pairs by remembering the location of the cards previously exposed.

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concentration British  

/ ˌkɒnsənˈtreɪʃən /

noun

1. intense mental application; complete attention

2. the act or process of concentrating

3. something that is concentrated

4.  c.  the strength of a solution, esp the amount of dissolved substance in a given volume of solvent, usually expressed in moles per cubic metre or cubic decimetre (litre)

5. the process of increasing the concentration of a solution

6. military

   1. the act of bringing together military forces

   2. the application of fire from a number of weapons against a target

7. economics the degree to which the output or employment in an industry is accounted for by only a few firms

8. another name (esp US) for Pelmanism

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concentration Scientific  

/ kŏn′sən-trā′shən /

1. The amount of a particular substance in a given amount of another substance, especially a solution or mixture.

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Other Word Forms

• hyperconcentration noun
• nonconcentration noun
• overconcentration noun
• preconcentration noun

Etymology

Origin of concentration

First recorded in 1625–35; concentr(ic) + -ation

Example Sentences

Over the course of the past year, the stock has experienced wild fluctuations amid investor concerns around its debt load, customer concentration and business-model sustainability.

From MarketWatch

Over the course of the past year, the stock has experienced wild fluctuations amid investor concerns around its debt load, customer concentration and business-model sustainability.

From MarketWatch

Helium is the second-most-common element in the universe after hydrogen, but it is rare on Earth, where it mainly exists in small concentrations in pockets of natural gas.

From The Wall Street Journal

With some concentration and luck, winning the fish should be easy.

From Literature

There’s no way to know how widespread or systematic those concentrations are without technical reports disclosing a project’s mineral contents and quality, he said.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• absorption
• combination
• consolidation