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

Living artists like Takashi Murakami and Kaws have embraced Haring’s concentration on just a few repeated figures, and found popular success in doing so thanks to collaborations with Louis Vuitton, the North Face and others.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026

Losing an hour of sleep in spring has been linked to short-term effects on mood, concentration, and mental well-being.

From BBC • Mar. 27, 2026

The map showed a fairly high concentration of poppies near a stretch of Highway 138.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026

"Somehow they are metering their intake, so maybe zero to 1% is a more likely concentration that they would find in the wild than anything higher," he said.

From Science Daily • Mar. 25, 2026

The objective was a large concentration of German troops around the town of Saint-Mihiel, south of Verdun.

From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman

Related Words

• absorption
• combination
• consolidation