concentration

American  

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

noun

• concentrations
  plural

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

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• concentrations
  plural

Etymology

Origin of concentration

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

Explanation

If you have great powers of concentration, that means you're able to focus all your attention on the matter at hand. Concentration can also refer to something that's clustered together or to the density or strength of a solution. A concentration of people means that there are many of them in one area. Your city may have a concentration of artists living in the warehouses by the river. A high concentration of a substance in a solution means that there's a lot of it relative to the volume: the Great Salt Lake has very few fish because of the high concentration of salt. To say that you have good concentration skills means that you pay attention well.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

concentration concentrations

The upside-down triangle was used to identify gay men in Nazi concentration camps.

From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026

He drew parallels with the horrors of the Holocaust, noting that images of Nazi concentration camps only became public after the atrocities.

From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026

Today’s tycoons represent a greater concentration of wealth than has been seen in the U.S., possibly ever.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2026

Those concerns ranged from a poor disciplinary record and difficulties defending set-pieces to lapses in concentration, inconsistent finishing and, ultimately, inconsistent results.

From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026

But his worrying muddied his concentration to the point where he couldn’t even remember the melody.

From "Healer of the Water Monster" by Brian Young

California has the highest concentration of Salvadoran TPS holders in the nation, with smaller concentrations in Texas, Maryland and New York, according to the immigrant advocacy organization FWD.us.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

At the same time, tissue resident macrophages develop higher concentrations of EP2.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 3, 2026

Many investors also have high concentrations of their portfolios in stocks because of the long bull market.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

Researchers also face challenges when trying to deliver hydrophobic drugs at concentrations high enough to be effective without increasing exposure throughout the rest of the body.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 31, 2026

Even more important, these hydrogen bonds were present at very low DNA concentrations, strongly hinting that the bonds linked together bases in the same molecule.

From "Double Helix" by James D. Watson

Related Words

• absorption
• combination
• consolidation