section

American  

[sek-shuhn] / ˈsɛk ʃən /

noun

sections plural

1. a part that is cut off or separated.

2. a distinct part or subdivision of anything, as an object, country, community, class, or the like: the left section of a drawer.

   the members' section of a golf course;

   the left section of a drawer.

3. a distinct part or subdivision of a writing, as of a newspaper, legal code, chapter, etc.: section 2 of the bylaws.

   the financial section of a daily paper;

   section 2 of the bylaws.

4. one of a number of parts that can be fitted together to make a whole.

   sections of a fishing rod.

5. (in most of the United States west of Ohio) one of the 36 numbered subdivisions, each one square mile (2.59 sq. km or 640 acres), of a township.

6. an act or instance of cutting; separation by cutting.

7. Surgery.

   1. the making of an incision.

   2. an incision.

8. a thin slice of a tissue, mineral, or the like, as for microscopic examination.

   Synonyms:

   specimen, slice, segment, part

9. a representation of an object as it would appear if cut by a plane, showing its internal structure.

10. Military.

    1. a small unit consisting of two or more squads.

    2. Also called staff section.  any of the subdivisions of a staff.

    3. a small tactical division in naval and air units.

11. Railroads.

    1. a division of a sleeping car containing both an upper and a lower berth.

    2. a length of trackage, roadbed, signal equipment, etc., maintained by one crew.

12. any of two or more trains, buses, or the like, running on the same route and schedule at the same time, one right behind the other, and considered as one unit, as when a second is necessary to accommodate more passengers than the first can carry.

    On holidays the New York to Boston train runs in three sections.

13. a segment of a naturally segmented fruit, as of an orange or grapefruit.

14. a division of an orchestra or band containing all the instruments of one class: the string section.

    a rhythm section;

    the string section.

15. Bookbinding. signature.

16. Also called section mark.  a mark used to indicate a subdivision of a book, chapter, or the like, or as a mark of reference to a footnote.

17. Theater. one of a series of circuits for controlling certain lights, as footlights.

18. shape.

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verb (used with object)

sections, present (3rd person singular) sectioned, past participle, past sectioning present participle

1. to cut or divide into sections.

2. to cut through so as to present a section.

3. Surgery. to make an incision.

section British  

/ ˈsɛkʃən /

noun

1. a part cut off or separated from the main body of something

2. a part or subdivision of a piece of writing, book, etc

   the sports section of the newspaper

3. one of several component parts

4. a distinct part or subdivision of a country, community, etc

5. an area one mile square (640 acres) in a public survey, esp in the western parts of the US and Canada

6. a plot of land for building on, esp in a suburban area

7. the section of a railway track that is maintained by a single crew or is controlled by a particular signal box

8. the act or process of cutting or separating by cutting

9. a representation of a portion of a building or object exposed when cut by an imaginary vertical plane so as to show its construction and interior

10. geometry

    1. a plane surface formed by cutting through a solid

    2. the shape or area of such a plane surface Compare cross section

11. surgery any procedure involving the cutting or division of an organ, structure, or part, such as a Caesarian section

12. a thin slice of biological tissue, mineral, etc, prepared for examination by a microscope

13. a segment of an orange or other citrus fruit

14. a small military formation, typically comprising two or more squads or aircraft

15. a fare stage on a bus, tram, etc

16. music

    1. an extended division of a composition or movement that forms a coherent part of the structure

       the development section

    2. a division in an orchestra, band, etc, containing instruments belonging to the same class

       the brass section

17. Also called: signature.   gathering.   gather.   quire.  a folded printing sheet or sheets ready for gathering and binding

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verb

1. to cut or divide into sections

2. to cut through so as to reveal a section

3. (in drawing, esp mechanical drawing) to shade so as to indicate sections

4. surgery to cut or divide (an organ, structure, or part)

5. social welfare to have (a mentally disturbed person) confined in a mental hospital under an appropriate section of the mental health legislation

Synonym Usage

See part.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• half-section
  noun
• multisection
  adjective
• unsectioned
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• sections
  plural

Participles

• sectioning
  present
• sectioned
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• section
  simple
• sections
  simple
• have sectioned
  perfect
• has sectioned
  perfect
• am sectioning
  progressive
• are sectioning
  progressive
• is sectioning
  progressive
• have been sectioning
  perfect progressive
• has been sectioning
  perfect progressive

Past

• sectioned
  simple
• had sectioned
  perfect
• was sectioning
  progressive
• were sectioning
  progressive
• had been sectioning
  perfect progressive

Future

• will section
  simple
• will have sectioned
  perfect
• will be sectioning
  progressive
• will have been sectioning
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of section

First recorded in 1550–60; from Latin sectiōn- (stem of sectiō ) “a cutting,” equivalent to sect(us) (past participle of secāre “to cut”; see saw ¹) + -iōn- -ion

Explanation

A section is a part or piece of something that fits together with the other pieces to make a whole. Like the arts section of a newspaper, or the rhythm section of the band that gets reviewed in it. The root of section is the Latin word sect, which means "cut." Think dissect ("cut into pieces"), or bisect ("cut in two"). Insects are called insects because they're made up of sections — the head, the abdomen, and the thorax. It almost looks like they've been carved into three separate parts.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

section sections sectioned sectioning

Jon Omer, 58, recently teamed up with the owners of a fulfillment center in Indiana to bring courts to a 20,000-square-foot section of their building, which still operates as a warehouse.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

Under the section initially built as the Port Talbot bypass - before the M4 was bolted on at either end - the main noise is the rushing of the nearby River Afan.

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026

In this section, Carney plays a supporting role to Pepper’s lead; “Escape from New York” is the enveloping soundtrack.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026

By combining these methods with imaging, the researchers were able to measure collagen abundance and structural coherence within the same section of tissue.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 20, 2026

But he’d secretly have his cell phone set on speaker phone in his lap, and he’d call Katherine, who’d be hiding out in the magazine section.

From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

There were 27 people working in different sections inside the tunnel - of which two managed to escape after the explosion and 25 were trapped.

From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026

Tesla on Tuesday announced that it would offer robotaxi services in Tampa and Orlando, after expanding to Miami earlier in July, although its service is for now limited to small sections of those new cities.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026

The two-lane carriageway in the sky was one of the first sections of the M4 and a relic of the 1960s freeway building boom after the explosion in postwar car ownership.

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026

Some ground-level history does make its way in, as in two sections where Mr. Dillon discusses the work of Xue Baoqi, a 1960s photographer.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

Vertical bar lines divide the staff into short sections called measures or bars.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones

The house was purchased for $1 from the developer, sectioned and transported on flatbed trucks to Altadena.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2026

If you want frozen garlic — already sectioned and ready-to-use — Trader Joe’s carries the Dorot brand of frozen crushed garlic cubes.

From Salon ● Apr. 19, 2026

A small, makeshift rink sectioned off by barricades was stationed in the corner, and the glam bar was closed down by the second day of the event.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 1, 2026

"I was permanently excluded from two primary schools, sectioned, home-tutored, and placed in a pupil referral unit," he said.

From BBC ● Feb. 20, 2026

It’s about as long as the tables in Midtown’s cafeteria and sectioned off by sizes.

From "On the Come Up" by Angie Thomas

Skelton said the decision to release Calocane to the crisis team and return him to his accommodation was not a "gamble" or influenced by Calocane trying to "dissuade" him from sectioning him.

From BBC ● May 7, 2026

Compared to their previous microscope design with a fixed light sheet, the new system quadrupled the field of view and doubled the optical sectioning ability without compromising volumetric imaging speed.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 20, 2024

“It is also equipped with manipulating arms which could be used to extricate the sub, such as by sectioning cables or things that would be blocking it at the bottom.”

From Washington Times ● Jun. 22, 2023

Johnson began by teaching the kids some basic techniques, like parting and sectioning hair, and by introducing them to the tools of the trade.

From Seattle Times ● May 10, 2023

But this neatness, the neatness of Dante, was in the orderly sectioning and segregating of all levels of evil and decay.

From "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison

Related Words

• area
• branch
• category
• chunk
• department
• district
• field
• part
• passage
• piece
• region
• sector
• segment
• zone