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

The Dow’s skeptics have decried its concentration, its unique price-weighted structure and its bias toward hefty, time-tested companies that can leave out some of the biggest and fastest-growing names on Wall Street.

From The Wall Street Journal

Instead, the galaxy's core could be dominated by an enormous concentration of dark matter that produces the same powerful gravitational effects.

From Science Daily

Lead is the heaviest of the heavy metals and, like mercury and arsenic, it accumulates in living tissue and is harmful even at low concentrations.

From Science Daily

And it has one of the largest concentrations of millionaires in the world, one for every 12 of the city 1.37 million residents.

From Los Angeles Times

The Luangwa River, which flows through Zambia's South Luangwa National Park, is home to one of the highest concentrations of Nile crocodiles in Africa, according to conservationists.

From BBC

Related Words

• absorption
• combination
• consolidation