mode

[ mohd ]

/ moʊd /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR mode ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a manner of acting or doing; method; way: modern modes of transportation.

a particular type or form of something: Heat is a mode of motion.

a designated condition or status, as for performing a task or responding to a problem: a machine in the automatic mode.

Philosophy.

appearance, form, or disposition taken by a thing, or by one of its essential properties or attributes.
(in the philosophy of Spinoza) one of the nonessential qualifications of God, contingent upon other modes.Compare attribute(def 9).

Logic.

Music. any of various arrangements of the diatonic tones of an octave, differing from one another in the order of the whole steps and half steps; scale.

Grammar. mood²(def 1).

Statistics. the value of the variate at which a relative or absolute maximum occurs in the frequency distribution of the variate.

Petrography. the actual mineral composition of a rock, expressed in percentages by weight.

Physics. any of the distinct patterns of oscillation that a given periodically varying system can have.

Nearby words

modal, modal auxiliary, modal logic, modality, modding, mode, model, model t, model theory, modeling, modelist

Origin of mode

1250–1300; Middle English mod(e) (< Old French) < Latin modus measured amount, limit, manner, kind, tone

SYNONYMS FOR mode

1 See method.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR mode ON THESAURUS.COM

Can be confused

mode modulemode mood

Definition for mode (2 of 3)

mode

[ mohd ]

/ moʊd /

noun

fashion or style in manners, dress, etc.: He was much concerned to keep up with the latest mode.

a light gray or drab color.

Origin of mode

1635–45; < French < Latin modus; see mode¹

Definition for mode (3 of 3)

à la mode

[ ah luh mohd, al-uh-; French a la mawd ]

/ ˌɑ lə ˈmoʊd, ˌæl ə-; French a la ˈmɔd /

adjective

in or according to the fashion.

Cookery.

(of pie or other dessert) served with a portion of ice cream, often as a topping: apple pie à la mode.
(of beef) larded and braised or stewed with vegetables, herbs, etc., and served with a rich brown gravy.

Also a la mode, alamode.

Origin of à la mode

Borrowed into English from French around 1640–50

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for mode

If Hugh Jackman is totally heterosexual, his mode is a confusing—and not in a good, rad way—butch-camp.
Hugh Jackman's Tony Jumping Fail, Plus the Winners and Standout Moments of Broadway's Biggest Night|Tim Teeman|June 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Why did it feel important to you to have Rick shift into this mode where he can readily access his brutality?
What’s Next for ‘Walking Dead’? Showrunner Scott Gimple On Season 5 and What Mary’s Grill Really Means|Melissa Leon|April 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Belfort, not knowing they were time-release ludes, pops loads of them, and when they kick in, he enters “cerebral palsy” mode.
Why Leonardo DiCaprio, Who Wows in ‘The Wolf of Wall Street,’ Deserves to (Finally) Win An Oscar|Marlow Stern|February 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It was through these explorations that he began capturing himself, just not in “selfie” mode.
Photographer Kyle Thompson Elevates the ‘Selfie’ to Self-Portraiture|Justin Jones|December 2, 2013|DAILY BEAST

After completing the campaign, an “Extinction” mode opens up.
‘Call of Duty: Ghosts’ Review: The Juggernaut Franchise Might Be Drying Up|Alec Kubas-Meyer|November 12, 2013|DAILY BEAST
It will not be easy to imagine any third mode materially different, which could rationally be proposed.
The Federalist Papers|Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison
But it is precisely here that the peculiarity of St. John's mode of thought comes in.
The Expositor's Bible: The Book of Revelation|William Milligan
The mode in which he escaped will show you his perfect self-possession.
The Adventures of Daniel Boone: the Kentucky rifleman|Uncle Philip
But his mode of living was by no means puritanical, and Haddon was kept up in its traditional lavish style.
Nooks and Corners of Old England|Allan Fea
The mode of the increase, reproduction and death of these animals is still unknown to naturalists.
A Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines|Andrew Ure

British Dictionary definitions for mode (1 of 2)

mode

/ (məʊd) /

noun

a manner or way of doing, acting, or existing

the current fashion or style

music

any of the various scales of notes within one octave, esp any of the twelve natural diatonic scales taken in ascending order used in plainsong, folk song, and art music until 1600
(in the music of classical Greece) any of the descending diatonic scales from which the liturgical modes evolved
either of the two main scale systems in music since 1600major mode; minor mode

logic linguistics another name for modality (def. 3), mood 2 (def. 2)

philosophy a complex combination of ideas the realization of which is not determined by the component ideas

that one of a range of values that has the highest frequency as determined statisticallyCompare mean 3 (def. 4), median (def. 6)

the quantitative mineral composition of an igneous rock

physics one of the possible configurations of a travelling or stationary wave

physics one of the fundamental vibrations

Word Origin for mode

C14: from Latin modus measure, manner

British Dictionary definitions for mode (2 of 2)

à la mode

/ (ɑː lɑː ˈməʊd, æ lə, French a la mɔd) /

adjective

fashionable in style, design, etc

(of meats) braised with vegetables in wine

mainly US and Canadian (of desserts) served with ice cream

Word Origin for à la mode

C17: from French: according to the fashion

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Medicine definitions for mode

mode

[ mōd ]

n.

The value or item occurring most frequently in a series of observations or statistical data.

The number or range of numbers in a mathematical set that occurs the most frequently.

Science definitions for mode

mode

[ mōd ]

The value that occurs most frequently in a data set. For example, in the set 125, 140, 172, 164, 140, 110, the mode is 140. Compare arithmetic mean average median.

Culture definitions for mode

mode

In statistics, the most frequently appearing value in a set of numbers or data points. In the numbers 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 4, 9, 6, 8, and 6, the mode is 6, because it appears more often than any of the other figures. (See average; compare mean and median.)

mode

noun

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Nearby words

Origin of mode

SYNONYMS FOR mode

Can be confused

Definition for mode (2 of 3)

mode

noun

Origin of mode

Definition for mode (3 of 3)

à la mode

adjective

Origin of à la mode

Examples from the Web for mode

British Dictionary definitions for mode (1 of 2)

mode

noun

Word Origin for mode

British Dictionary definitions for mode (2 of 2)

à la mode

adjective

Word Origin for à la mode

Medicine definitions for mode

mode

n.

Science definitions for mode

mode

Culture definitions for mode

mode