SIMULATION

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does simulation mean? 

• SIMULATION (noun)
  The noun SIMULATION has 4 senses:

1. the act of imitating the behavior of some situation or some process by means of something suitably analogous (especially for the purpose of study or personnel training)

2. (computer science) the technique of representing the real world by a computer program

3. representation of something (sometimes on a smaller scale)

4. the act of giving a false appearance

  Familiarity information: SIMULATION used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SIMULATION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of imitating the behavior of some situation or some process by means of something suitably analogous (especially for the purpose of study or personnel training)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

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

model; modeling; modelling (the act of representing something (usually on a smaller scale))

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

war game (a simulation of a military operation intended to train military commanders or to demonstrate a situation or to test a proposed strategy)

Sense 2

Meaning:

(computer science) the technique of representing the real world by a computer program

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

computer simulation; simulation

Context example:

a simulation should imitate the internal processes and not merely the results of the thing being simulated

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

technique (a practical method or art applied to some particular task)

framework; model; theoretical account (a hypothetical description of a complex entity or process)

Domain category:

computer science; computing (the branch of engineering science that studies (with the aid of computers) computable processes and structures)

Domain member category:

time-scale factor (the ratio of the simulation time to the time of the real process)

extended time scale; slow time scale ((simulation) the time scale used in data processing when the time-scale factor is greater than one)

fast time scale ((simulation) the time scale used in data processing when the time-scale factor is less than one)

Derivation:

simulate (create a representation or model of)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Representation of something (sometimes on a smaller scale)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

model; simulation

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

representation (a creation that is a visual or tangible rendering of someone or something)

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

figure (a model of a bodily form (especially of a person))

globe (a sphere on which a map (especially of the earth) is represented)

mock-up (full-scale working model of something built for study or testing or display)

planetarium (an apparatus or model for representing the solar systems)

restoration (a model that represents the landscape of a former geological age or that represents and extinct animal etc.)

roughcast (a rough preliminary model)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The act of giving a false appearance

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

feigning; pretence; pretending; pretense; simulation

Context example:

his conformity was only pretending

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

deceit; deception; dissembling; dissimulation (the act of deceiving)

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

appearance; show (pretending that something is the case in order to make a good impression)

make-believe; pretend (the enactment of a pretense)

affectation; affectedness; mannerism; pose (a deliberate pretense or exaggerated display)

charade; masquerade (making a false outward show)

Derivation:

simulate (make a pretence of)

 Context examples 

Using computer simulations, the researchers were able to characterize the interactions between the nanoparticles and toxin.

(3-D gel-nanoparticle device detoxifies blood, NIH)

Researchers used computational simulations to find a MOF with the perfect pore size to carry an siRNA molecule, and that would breakdown once inside a cell, releasing the siRNA to its target.

(Nanoparticles used to transport anti-cancer agent to cells, University of Cambridge)

The computer simulation of chemical structures or processes; allows for the exploration, visualization, and manipulation of molecular structures and properties.

(Molecular Modeling, NCI Thesaurus)

Computer simulations of the solar system with Planet Nine included show there should be more objects tilted with respect to the solar plane.

(The Super-Earth that Came Home for Dinner, NASA)

Over the course of the model simulations, northern permafrost lost about five times more carbon per century than southern permafrost.

(Far Northern Permafrost May Unleash Carbon Within Decades, NASA)

Simulations showed the simple brain was capable of counting small quantities by closely studying one item at a time.

(Scientists Discover Bees Can Count Using Only Four Brain Cells, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

That's based on supercomputer simulations that identified a new phenomenon called intergalactic transfer, and it could help us unlock the secrets of how galaxies evolve.

(Half Our Body's Atoms Could Have Come from Outside The Galaxy, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

But the scientists knew something was missing because they never saw spicules in the simulations.

(Scientists Uncover Origins of the Sun’s Swirling Spicules, NASA)

The scientists developed simulations that allowed them to explore how disturbances like hurricanes would affect the birds over time.

(Coastal birds can weather the storm, but not the sea, National Science Foundation)

To identify more suitable compounds, the team developed a computer simulation method to screen almost half a million chemical compounds in search of structures that might interact with the receptor.

(How mosquitoes detect people, NIH)