open system

nounThermodynamics.

a region separated from its surroundings by a boundary that admits a transfer of matter or energy across it.

Compare Meanings

Click for a side-by-side comparison of meanings. Use the word comparison feature to learn the differences between similar and commonly confused words.

Origin of open system

First recorded in 1935–40

Compare closed system.

Words Nearby open system

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use open system in a sentence

These companies are stepping back from open systems because it works, and security experts know it.
Hackers are finding ways to hide inside Apple’s walled garden | Patrick Howell ONeill | March 1, 2021 | MIT Technology Review
It has been said that logistics is the true strength of any modern military, and designing open systems is a tremendous force multiplier.
Ars Technicast special edition, part 2: Open systems and the “joint force” | Lee Hutchinson | February 1, 2021 | Ars Technica
The Web was designed to be an open system, no spying or data gathering allowed.
The Internet Shouldn’t Own You | Eric Klinker | October 10, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
The former is part of our open system of checks and balances and can be challenged in the courts.
Cerberus Divestment Decision Is a Risky Way to Combat Gun Violence | Alan M. Dershowitz | December 19, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
May said he and other Republicans there “did a lot of hard work with trying to come up with a fair and open system.”
Romney and Paul Team Up, Try to Snatch Santorum’s Missouri Delegates | Ben Jacobs | March 20, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST

It's a relatively open system, onto which I can install any program, get to any content, and even change how it works.
Apple's Mac Killer Unveiled | Douglas Rushkoff | January 27, 2010 | THE DAILY BEAST
The complications of the open system with its endless quarrels and lawsuits were avoided.
Our Legal Heritage, 5th Ed. | S. A. Reilly
On the other hand, we have the fact that during the War of American Independence the open system was not very successful.
Some Principles of Maritime Strategy | Julian Stafford Corbett
The intelligent saw in the open system of the Jacobins the complete hidden system of the Illuminati.
Proofs of a Conspiracy against all the Religions and Governments of Europe | John Robison
This sort of a circulatory system in which the blood in places is not enclosed in a definite vessel is known as an open system.
Elementary Zoology, Second Edition | Vernon L. Kellogg

British Dictionary definitions for open system

open system

noun

computing an operating system that is not specific to a particular supplier, but conforms to more widely compatible standards

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

Scientific definitions for open system

open system

A physical system that interacts with other systems. The physical description of an open system can appear to violate conservation laws; for example, in a good description of the mechanism of energy transfer in a car engine (gears, driveshaft, and so on), energy will appear to be lost from the system over time, despite the law of conservation of energy. This is because the system is open, losing energy (in the form of heat) to surrounding systems (through friction). A system that loses energy in this way also called a dissipative system. Compare closed system.

Browse