performance
Americannoun
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a musical, dramatic, or other entertainment presented before an audience.
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the act of performing a ceremony, play, piece of music, etc.
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the execution or accomplishment of work, acts, feats, etc.
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a particular action, deed, or proceeding.
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an action or proceeding of an unusual or spectacular kind.
His temper tantrum was quite a performance.
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the act of performing.
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the manner in which or the efficiency with which something reacts or fulfills its intended purpose.
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Linguistics. the actual use of language in real situations, which may or may not fully reflect a speaker's competence, being subject to such nonlinguistic factors as inattention, distraction, memory lapses, fatigue, or emotional state.
noun
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the act, process, or art of performing
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an artistic or dramatic production
last night's performance was terrible
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manner or quality of functioning
a machine's performance
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informal mode of conduct or behaviour, esp when distasteful or irregular
what did you mean by that performance at the restaurant?
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informal any tiresome procedure
what a performance dressing the children to play in the snow!
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any accomplishment
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linguistics (in transformational grammar) the form of the human language faculty, viewed as concretely embodied in speakers Compare competence langue parole
Other Word Forms
- misperformance noun
- reperformance noun
Etymology
Origin of performance
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The show also included a lengthy "In Memoriam" segment, paying tribute to actor Robert Redford, which included a rare stage performance from Barbra Streisand.
From Barron's
While opting for better performance may feel like a no-brainer, the answer is not as easy as it looks.
From Barron's
Morocco’s federation, which had formally protested the result, said that it “never intended to challenge the sporting performance of the teams,” but didn’t deny that it was hoping for this very outcome.
High token use can indicate either high performance or inefficiency, with some AI projects costing thousands of dollars.
Under his leadership, Escondida—the world’s largest copper mine—has extended its grade and production guidance through productivity improvements and a sharp focus on operational performance, said BHP.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
