section

[ sek-shuhn ]

/ ˈsɛk ʃən /

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See synonyms for: section / sectioned / sectioning / sections on Thesaurus.com

noun

a part that is cut off or separated.

a distinct part or subdivision of anything, as an object, country, community, class, or the like: the members' section of a golf course;the left section of a drawer.

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

one of a number of parts that can be fitted together to make a whole: sections of a fishing rod.

(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.

an act or instance of cutting; separation by cutting.

Surgery.

the making of an incision.
an incision.

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

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

Military.

a small unit consisting of two or more squads.
Also called staff section . any of the subdivisions of a staff.
a small tactical division in naval and air units.

Railroads.

a division of a sleeping car containing both an upper and a lower berth.
a length of trackage, roadbed, signal equipment, etc., maintained by one crew.

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.

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

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

Bookbinding. signature (def. 8).

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.

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

shape (def. 12).

verb (used with object)

to cut or divide into sections.

to cut through so as to present a section.

Surgery. to make an incision.

OTHER WORDS FOR section

1 part, segment, slice.

8 specimen.

See synonyms for section on Thesaurus.com

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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 saw¹) + -iōn- -ion

synonym study for section

1. See part.

OTHER WORDS FROM section

half-section, nounmul·ti·sec·tion, adjectiveun·sec·tioned, adjective

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

How to use section in a sentence

We’ll see what each section is telling us, and how they all start to fit together with the revelations of the final section.
The mind-boggling end of Susan Choi’s Trust Exercise, explained|Constance Grady|November 20, 2020|Vox
We marked this section for spoilers, but really, if you thought Dean, with his perpetual death wish, was going to make it through the series finale, you’ve been watching a different show.
Supernatural’s bonkers series finale marked the end of an era of fandom|Aja Romano|November 20, 2020|Vox
The interview and speech excerpt section is more engaging, mostly because it contains flesh-and-blood details about the man and not just Amazon.
Jeff Bezos’s thoughts on Big Business, outer space and The Washington Post|James Ledbetter|November 20, 2020|Washington Post
In the My Competitors section, you’ll find rivaling websites that rank for the keywords that you added to your project.
Analyzing competition with SE Ranking tools|Sponsored Content: SE Ranking|November 19, 2020|Search Engine Land

The e-commerce giant on Tuesday unveiled Amazon Pharmacy, a section of its retail website and mobile application that lets people order medication.
Amazon Pharmacy is live: Shoppers can now order prescriptions directly through the tech giant|Rachel Schallom|November 17, 2020|Fortune
Incisor sectioning requires only incisors and appears to be much more accurate.
Ecological Studies of the Timber Wolf in Northeastern Minnesota|L. David Mech
They were not only running a straight survey, but were cross-sectioning as they went.
The Conquest|Oscar Micheaux
Figure 29 is the equatorial plate of a metaphase in which the larger component of the unequal pair has been removed in sectioning.
Studies in Spermatogenesis|Nettie Maria Stevens
On sectioning the bones longitudinally the cortex is noted to be exceedingly thin, a mere shell and very brittle.
Scurvy Past and Present|Alfred Fabian Hess

British Dictionary definitions for section

section

/ (ˈsɛkʃən) /

noun

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

a part or subdivision of a piece of writing, book, etcthe sports section of the newspaper

one of several component parts

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

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

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

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

the act or process of cutting or separating by cutting

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

geometry

a plane surface formed by cutting through a solid
the shape or area of such a plane surfaceCompare cross section (def. 1)

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

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

a segment of an orange or other citrus fruit

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

Australian and NZ a fare stage on a bus, tram, etc

music

an extended division of a composition or movement that forms a coherent part of the structurethe development section
a division in an orchestra, band, etc, containing instruments belonging to the same classthe brass section

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

verb (tr)

to cut or divide into sections

to cut through so as to reveal a section

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

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

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

Word Origin for section

C16: from Latin sectiō, from secāre to cut

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

section

OTHER WORDS FOR section

Origin of section

synonym study for section

OTHER WORDS FROM section

Words related to section

How to use section in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for section

Word Origin for section