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

“There’s a high concentration of players with very well-structured clubs. And then everyone draws from this Ile-de-France pool because afterwards they go to other clubs; they don’t all stay in Ile-de-France.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026

Introducing a modest number of bubbles created a much more even coating, while increasing the bubble concentration further caused particles to collect near the center of the droplet instead.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 11, 2026

Property, the largest concentration of global wealth, is overvalued by up to 50%, using price-to-affordability metrics, although there are significant locational discrepancies.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026

Stage 1 is the mildest of CTE's four stages, in which headaches and loss of attention or concentration are common symptoms.

From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026

Not all had been in concentration camps; some had spent two, three, even four years hidden in attic rooms and back closets here in Holland.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

During the Progressive Era, when party machine politics dominated, judicial elections were put forward as a reform to promote democratic accountability because they broke up concentrations of power and redistributed it to the people.

From Slate ● Jul. 8, 2026

And, this time, the Mexican government is hoping to avoid mass concentrations of supporters late at night, should “El Tri” eliminate England, said one person familiar with the discussions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026

Lineage, the tenant-operator of the warehouse, said no concentrations of ammonia were detected in the air at any time.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026

All three concentrations promoted osteoinduction, the process that encourages cells to develop into bone-forming tissue, within 14 days.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 19, 2026

Carrots absorb more insecticide than any other crop studied; if the chemical used happens to be lindane, carrots actually accumulate higher concentrations than are present in the soil.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson

Related Words

• absorption
• combination
• consolidation