LIGATURE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does ligature mean? 

• LIGATURE (noun)
  The noun LIGATURE has 6 senses:

1. (music) a group of notes connected by a slur

2. character consisting of two or more letters combined into one

3. a metal band used to attach a reed to the mouthpiece of a clarinet or saxophone

4. thread used by surgeons to bind a vessel (as to constrict the flow of blood)

5. something used to tie or bind

6. the act of tying or binding things together

  Familiarity information: LIGATURE used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LIGATURE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(music) a group of notes connected by a slur

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("ligature" is a kind of...):

musical phrase; phrase (a short musical passage)

Domain category:

music (an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Character consisting of two or more letters combined into one

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("ligature" is a kind of...):

character; graph; grapheme; graphic symbol (a written symbol that is used to represent speech)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A metal band used to attach a reed to the mouthpiece of a clarinet or saxophone

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("ligature" is a kind of...):

band (a restraint put around something to hold it together)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Thread used by surgeons to bind a vessel (as to constrict the flow of blood)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("ligature" is a kind of...):

thread; yarn (a fine cord of twisted fibers (of cotton or silk or wool or nylon etc.) used in sewing and weaving)

Derivation:

ligate (bind with a bandage or ligature)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Something used to tie or bind

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

binder; ligature

Hypernyms ("ligature" is a kind of...):

ligament (any connection or unifying bond)

Sense 6

Meaning:

The act of tying or binding things together

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

ligature; tying

Hypernyms ("ligature" is a kind of...):

attachment; fastening (the act of fastening things together)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "ligature"):

ligation ((surgery) tying a duct or blood vessel with a ligature (as to prevent bleeding during surgery))

Derivation:

ligate (bind with a bandage or ligature)

 Context examples 

I likewise felt several slender ligatures across my body, from my arm-pits to my thighs.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Miss Abbot turned to divest a stout leg of the necessary ligature.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)