selection
Americannoun
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selections
plural
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an act or instance of selecting or the state of being selected; choice.
- Antonyms:
- rejection
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a thing or a number of things selected.
- Synonyms:
- pick, gathering, collection
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an aggregate of things displayed for choice, purchase, use, etc.; a group from which a choice may be made.
The store had a wide selection of bracelets.
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Biology. any natural or artificial process that results in differential reproduction among the members of a population so that the inheritable traits of only certain individuals are passed on, or are passed on in greater proportion, to succeeding generations.
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Linguistics.
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the choice of one form instead of another in a position where either can occur, as of ask instead of tell or with in the phrase ask me.
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the choice of one semantic or syntactic class of words in a construction, to the exclusion of others that do not occur there, as the choice of an animate object for the verb surprise.
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noun
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the act or an instance of selecting or the state of being selected
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a thing or number of things that have been selected
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a range from which something may be selected
this shop has a good selection of clothes
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biology the natural or artificial process by which certain organisms or characters are reproduced and perpetuated in the species in preference to others See also natural selection
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a contestant in a race chosen as likely to win or come second or third
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the act of free-selecting
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a tract of land acquired by free-selection
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Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of selection
First recorded in 1640–50; from Latin sēlēctiōn-, stem of sēlēctiō; equivalent to select + -ion
Explanation
Selection is all about choosing. Think about a salad bar: you can make a selection from among several choices, with croutons always being a popular selection. Inside selection is the word select, "to choose." Selection means the act of choosing, the thing chosen, or the offerings to be chosen from among. Selection can also mean a passage excerpted (or selected) from a longer text. Church services often involve reading a day's selection from the Bible.
Vocabulary lists containing selection
PARCC: Language of the Test (Grade7)
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Word Generation Science - Life Science
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Academic Vocabulary Toolkit 1, Words 81-90
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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.
See Examples For:
Flanker Ben Curry, versatile back Elliot Daly, centre Ollie Lawrence and wing Tom Roebuck all miss out on contracts, while France-bound number eight Tom Willis is no longer eligible for England selection.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
At the last pretrial hearing before jury selection begins on September 8, which will mark the start of the trial, New York state Judge Gregory Carro did not give reasons for the decision.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
Other than the physicality of it, I do think the fabric selection in New York is nicer, but I wouldn’t be able to do it to the scale I do here.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
“From the Front Line,” translated by Robert and Elizabeth Chandler, with commentary by Mr. Chandler and Julia Volohova, comprises a selection of Grossman’s 49 articles from the Red Star.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
The selection I’m doing for Pianopalooza is by an Italian composer named Muzio Clementi.
From "Blended" by Sharon M. Draper
“It used to be an easy no,” said Doug Frost, the master sommelier who helps United make its selections.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
It then makes buying selections from that group.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 10, 2026
The exhibition coincides with Oyer’s fifth portrait book release, which features selections from his extensive archive.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
The former defender described the lack of a top-class striker as "a major issue" and said he was "uncertain about the logic of a few selections".
From BBC ● Jun. 27, 2026
Burnham knew exactly whom he wanted to hire but was less aware of how incendiary his selections would prove.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
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.
