decision

American  

[dih-sizh-uhn] / dɪˈsɪʒ ən /

noun

1. the act or process of deciding; deciding; determination, as of a question or doubt, by making a judgment.

   They must make a decision between these two contestants.

2. the act of or need for making up one's mind.

   This is a difficult decision.

3. something that is decided; decided; resolution.

   She made a poor decision when she dropped out of school.

4. a judgment, as one formally pronounced by a court.

   It is the decision of this court that the appeal is granted.

   Synonyms:

   decree, finding, verdict, ruling

5. the quality of being decided; firmness.

   He spoke with decision and calm authority.

6. the final score in any sport or contest.

   The decision was 5 to 4 in favor of the home team.

7. Boxing. the awarding of a victory in a match not decided by a knockout or technical knockout, usually through a vote of the referee and judges.

---

verb (used with object)

1. Boxing. to win a victory over (one's opponent) by a point score rather than a knockout.

decision British  

/ dɪˈsɪʒən /

noun

1. a judgment, conclusion, or resolution reached or given; verdict

2. the act of making up one's mind

3. firmness of purpose or character; determination

---

Other Word Forms

• decisional adjective
• nondecision noun
• predecision noun
• redecision noun
• subdecision noun

Etymology

Origin of decision

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English decisioun, from Middle French, from Latin dēcīsiōn-, stem of dēcīsiō “a cutting off,” equivalent to dēcīs(us) (past participle of dēcīdere “to cut off”; decide ) + -iō -ion

Example Sentences

Department of Justice’s decision to drop its oversight because the possibility of more cases infected by the scandal might still be uncovered.

From Los Angeles Times

Data gaps resulting from the government shutdown further complicated members’ decisions.

From The Wall Street Journal

“Most of the land currently occupied by UW was densely forested before the land was cleared to make way for the campus,” he argued, according to the decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

From The Wall Street Journal

This process is thought to underlie decisions, thoughts, and memories, and studying it directly could help explain how the brain performs complex computations.

From Science Daily

Those two decisions will have the teams in drastically different places on offense.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• accord
• agreement
• arrangement
• choice
• compromise
• determination
• finding
• judgment
• opinion
• outcome
• resolution
• result
• ruling
• selection
• settlement
• verdict