STRUCTURE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does structure mean? 

• STRUCTURE (noun)
  The noun STRUCTURE has 5 senses:

1. a thing constructed; a complex entity constructed of many parts

2. the manner of construction of something and the arrangement of its parts

3. the complex composition of knowledge as elements and their combinations

4. a particular complex anatomical part of a living thing and its construction and arrangement

5. the people in a society considered as a system organized by a characteristic pattern of relationships

  Familiarity information: STRUCTURE used as a noun is common.

• STRUCTURE (verb)
  The verb STRUCTURE has 1 sense:

1. give a structure to

  Familiarity information: STRUCTURE used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• STRUCTURE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A thing constructed; a complex entity constructed of many parts

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

construction; structure

Context example:

she wore her hair in an amazing construction of whirls and ribbons

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

artefact; artifact (a man-made object taken as a whole)

Meronyms (parts of "structure"):

base; foot; foundation; fundament; groundwork; substructure; understructure (lowest support of a structure)

plate (structural member consisting of a horizontal beam that provides bearing and anchorage)

structural member (support that is a constituent part of any structure or building)

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

airdock; hangar; repair shed (a large structure at an airport where aircraft can be stored and maintained)

altar (a raised structure on which gifts or sacrifices to a god are made)

arcade; colonnade (a structure composed of a series of arches supported by columns)

arch ((architecture) a masonry construction (usually curved) for spanning an opening and supporting the weight above it)

area (a part of a structure having some specific characteristic or function)

balcony (a platform projecting from the wall of a building and surrounded by a balustrade or railing or parapet)

balcony (an upper floor projecting from the rear over the main floor in an auditorium)

bascule (a structure or device in which one end is counterbalanced by the other (on the principle of the seesaw))

boarding (a structure of boards)

body (the external structure of a vehicle)

bridge; span (a structure that allows people or vehicles to cross an obstacle such as a river or canal or railway etc.)

building; edifice (a structure that has a roof and walls and stands more or less permanently in one place)

building complex; complex (a whole structure (as a building) made up of interconnected or related structures)

catchment (a structure in which water is collected (especially a natural drainage area))

coil; helix; spiral; volute; whorl (a structure consisting of something wound in a continuous series of loops)

colonnade (structure consisting of a row of evenly spaced columns)

column; pillar (a vertical cylindrical structure standing alone and not supporting anything (such as a monument))

corner; quoin ((architecture) solid exterior angle of a building; especially one formed by a cornerstone)

cross (a wooden structure consisting of an upright post with a transverse piece)

deathtrap (any structure that is very unsafe; where people are likely to be killed)

defence; defense; defensive structure (a structure used to defend against attack)

door (a structure where people live or work (usually ordered along a street or road))

entablature ((architecture) the structure consisting of the part of a classical temple above the columns between a capital and the roof)

erection (a structure that has been erected)

establishment (a public or private structure (business or governmental or educational) including buildings and equipment for business or residence)

false bottom (a horizontal structure that partitions a ship or box (especially one built close to the actual bottom))

floor; level; storey; story (a structure consisting of a room or set of rooms at a single position along a vertical scale)

fountain (a structure from which an artificially produced jet of water arises)

guide (a structure or marking that serves to direct the motion or positioning of something)

card-house; cardcastle; cardhouse; house of cards (an unstable construction with playing cards)

housing; living accommodations; lodging (structures collectively in which people are housed)

hull (the frame or body of ship)

jungle gym (a structure of vertical and horizontal rods where children can climb and play)

lamination (a layered structure)

landing; landing place (structure providing a place where boats can land people or goods)

lookout; lookout station; observation tower; observatory (a structure commanding a wide view of its surroundings)

masonry (structure built of stone or brick by a mason)

memorial; monument (a structure erected to commemorate persons or events)

hill; mound (structure consisting of an artificial heap or bank usually of earth or stones)

impediment; impedimenta; obstructer; obstruction; obstructor (any structure that makes progress difficult)

divider; partition (a vertical structure that divides or separates (as a wall divides one room from another))

platform; weapons platform (any military structure or vehicle bearing weapons)

porch (a structure attached to the exterior of a building often forming a covered entrance)

post and lintel (a structure consisting of vertical beams (posts) supporting a horizontal beam (lintel))

prefab (a prefabricated structure)

projection (any structure that branches out from a central support)

public works (structures (such as highways or schools or bridges or docks) constructed at government expense for public use)

sail (any structure that resembles a sail)

offset; set-back; setoff (structure where a wall or building narrows abruptly)

shelter (a structure that provides privacy and protection from danger)

shoebox (a structure resembling a shoebox (as a rectangular building or a cramped room or compartment))

sign; signboard (structure displaying a board on which advertisements can be posted)

arena; bowl; sports stadium; stadium (a large structure for open-air sports or entertainments)

superstructure (structure consisting of the part of a ship above the main deck)

supporting structure (a structure that serves to support something)

tower (a structure taller than its diameter; can stand alone or be attached to a larger building)

transept (structure forming the transverse part of a cruciform church; crosses the nave at right angles)

trestlework (a supporting structure composed of a system of connected trestles; for a bridge or pier or scaffold e.g.)

vaulting ((architecture) a vaulted structure)

shipway; slipway; ways (structure consisting of a sloping way down to the water from the place where ships are built or repaired)

wellhead (a structure built over a well)

wind tunnel (a structure resembling a tunnel where air is blown at known velocities for testing parts of aircraft)

honeycomb (a structure of small hexagonal cells constructed from beeswax by bees and used to store honey and larvae)

balance; counterbalance; equilibrium; equipoise (equality of distribution)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The manner of construction of something and the arrangement of its parts

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Context example:

the structure of the benzene molecule

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

composition; constitution; make-up; makeup; physical composition (the way in which someone or something is composed)

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

infrastructure; substructure (the basic structure or features of a system or organization)

architecture; computer architecture ((computer science) the structure and organization of a computer's hardware or system software)

cytoarchitectonics; cytoarchitecture (the cellular composition of a bodily structure)

fabric; framework (the underlying structure)

Derivation:

structure (give a structure to)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The complex composition of knowledge as elements and their combinations

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Context example:

his lectures have no structure

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

cognition; knowledge; noesis (the psychological result of perception and learning and reasoning)

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

arrangement; organisation; organization; system (an organized structure for arranging or classifying)

form; pattern; shape (a perceptual structure)

phrase structure; sentence structure; syntax (the grammatical arrangement of words in sentences)

morphology; sound structure; syllable structure; word structure (the admissible arrangement of sounds in words)

Derivation:

structure (give a structure to)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A particular complex anatomical part of a living thing and its construction and arrangement

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

anatomical structure; bodily structure; body structure; complex body part; structure

Context example:

he has good bone structure

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

body part (any part of an organism such as an organ or extremity)

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

layer (thin structure composed of a single thickness of cells)

apodeme (ridge-like ingrowth of the exoskeleton of an arthropod that supports internal organs and provides attachment points for muscles)

caliculus; calycle; calyculus (a small cup-shaped structure (as a taste bud or optic cup or cavity of a coral containing a polyp))

tooth (toothlike structure in invertebrates found in the mouth or alimentary canal or on a shell)

pad (the fleshy cushion-like underside of an animal's foot or of a human's finger)

branchial cleft; gill cleft; gill slit (one of a series of slit openings in the pharynxes of fishes and aquatic amphibians through which water passes)

branchial arch; gill arch; gill bar (one of the bony or cartilaginous arches on each side of the pharynx that support the gills of fishes and aquatic amphibians)

peristome (region around the mouth in various invertebrates)

syrinx (the vocal organ of a bird)

bulb (a rounded dilation or expansion in a canal or vessel or organ)

carina (any of various keel-shaped structures or ridges such as that on the breastbone of a bird or that formed by the fused petals of a pea blossom)

cauda (any taillike structure)

chiasm; chiasma; decussation (an intersection or crossing of two tracts in the form of the letter X)

cingulum ((anatomy) an encircling structure (as the ridge around the base of a tooth))

concha ((anatomy) a structure that resembles a shell in shape)

filament; filum (a threadlike structure (as a chainlike series of cells))

germ (a small apparently simple structure (as a fertilized egg) from which new tissue can develop into a complete organism)

infundibulum (any of various funnel-shaped parts of the body (but especially the hypophyseal stalk))

interstice (a small structural space between tissues or parts of an organ)

landmark (an anatomical structure used as a point of origin in locating other anatomical structures (as in surgery) or as point from which measurements can be taken)

limbus (a border or edge of any of various body parts distinguished by color or structure)

rib (a riblike supporting or strengthening part of an animal or plant)

blade (a broad flat body part (as of the shoulder or tongue))

radicle ((anatomy) a small structure resembling a rootlet (such as a fibril of a nerve))

plexus; rete (a network of intersecting blood vessels or intersecting nerves or intersecting lymph vessels)

tube; tube-shaped structure ((anatomy) any hollow cylindrical body structure)

passage; passageway (a path or channel or duct through or along which something may pass)

fundus ((anatomy) the base of a hollow organ or that part of the organ farthest from its opening)

funiculus (any of several body structure resembling a cord)

head (that part of a skeletal muscle that is away from the bone that it moves)

bodily cavity; cavity; cavum ((anatomy) a natural hollow or sinus within the body)

root (the embedded part of a bodily structure such as a tooth, nail, or hair)

capsule (a structure that encloses a body part)

uvea (the part of the eye that contains the iris and ciliary body and choroid)

lens nucleus; nucleus (the central structure of the lens that is surrounded by the cortex)

membranous labyrinth (the sensory structures of the inner ear including the labyrinthine receptors and the cochlea; contained within the bony labyrinth)

bony labyrinth; osseous labyrinth (cavity in the petrous part of the temporal bone that contains the membranous labyrinth)

glans (a small rounded structure; especially that at the end of the penis or clitoris)

alveolar bed (lung tissue densely packed with alveoli)

valve (a structure in a hollow organ (like the heart) with a flap to insure one-way flow of fluid through it)

vascular structure (a structure composed of or provided with blood vessels)

lacrimal apparatus (the structures that secrete and drain tears from the eye)

cytoskeleton (a microscopic network of actin filaments and microtubules in the cytoplasm of many living cells that gives the cell shape and coherence)

nucleolar organiser; nucleolar organizer; nucleolus organiser; nucleolus organizer (the particular part of a chromosome that is associated with a nucleolus after nuclear division)

centromere; kinetochore (a specialized condensed region of each chromosome that appears during mitosis where the chromatids are held together to form an X shape)

aster (star-shaped structure formed in the cytoplasm of a cell having fibers like rays that surround the centrosome during mitosis)

neural structure (a structure that is part of the nervous system)

fold; plica (a folded part (as in skin or muscle))

convolution; gyrus (a convex fold or elevation in the surface of the brain)

cartilaginous structure (body structure given shape by cartilage)

ball (a more or less rounded anatomical body or mass)

plate (any flat platelike body structure or part)

horny structure; unguis (any rigid body structure composed primarily of keratin)

skeletal structure (any structure created by the skeleton of an organism)

costa (a riblike part of a plant or animal (such as a middle rib of a leaf or a thickened vein of an insect wing))

head (the rounded end of a bone that fits into a rounded cavity in another bone to form a joint)

bridge (the hard ridge that forms the upper part of the nose)

rotator cuff (a supporting structure of the shoulder consisting of the muscles and tendons that attach the arm to the shoulder joint and enable the arm to move)

cornu ((anatomy) any structure that resembles a horn in shape)

corona ((anatomy) any structure that resembles a crown in shape)

receptor (a cellular structure that is postulated to exist in order to mediate between a chemical agent that acts on nervous tissue and the physiological response)

zona; zone ((anatomy) any encircling or beltlike structure)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The people in a society considered as a system organized by a characteristic pattern of relationships

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

social organisation; social organization; social structure; social system; structure

Context example:

sociologists have studied the changing structure of the family

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

scheme; system (a group of independent but interrelated elements comprising a unified whole)

Meronyms (members of "structure"):

form of government; political system (the members of a social organization who are in power)

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

feudal system; feudalism (the social system that developed in Europe in the 8th century; vassals were protected by lords who they had to serve in war)

patriarchate; patriarchy (a form of social organization in which a male is the family head and title is traced through the male line)

matriarchate; matriarchy (a form of social organization in which a female is the family head and title is traced through the female line)

meritocracy (a form of social system in which power goes to those with superior intellects)

pluralism (a social organization in which diversity of racial or religious or ethnic or cultural groups is tolerated)

class structure (the organization of classes within a society)

segregation; separatism (a social system that provides separate facilities for minority groups)

Holonyms ("structure" is a member of...):

society (an extended social group having a distinctive cultural and economic organization)

• STRUCTURE (verb)

Conjugation:

Sense 1

Meaning:

Give a structure to

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

I need to structure my days

Hypernyms (to "structure" is one way to...):

coordinate; organise; organize (bring order and organization to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "structure"):

reconstitute; restructure (construct or form anew or provide with a new structure)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

structure (the manner of construction of something and the arrangement of its parts)

structure (the complex composition of knowledge as elements and their combinations)

 Context examples 

This protein is involved in the modulation of both actin polymerization and formation of branching actin structures.

(Actin-Related Protein 2/3 Complex Subunit 1B, NCI Thesaurus)

Pluto teaches that a structure can only be strong if the base is strong.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Both papillary and solid structures are present.

(Adenoma of the Mouse Pulmonary System with Mixed Subtypes, NCI Thesaurus/MMHCC)

The resulting structure is called an aggregate.

(Aggregation, NCI Thesaurus)

Bartholin duct structures are not present.

(Adenoma of Minor Vestibular Glands, NCI Thesaurus)

It was the big thing out of life he had read to her, not sentence-structure and semicolons.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

PAPa/PAG3, with a similar domain structure, binds phosphoinositides, Src, Pyk, and paxillin.

(ADP-Ribosylation Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

This structure contains several descending and ascending tracts, lower cranial nerve nuclei, a significant proportion of the reticular system of the brainstem and other structures.

(Medulla Oblongata, NCI Thesaurus)

Anatomic structures forming the upper respiratory tract and upper part of the digestive tract.

(Aerodigestive tract, NCI Thesaurus)

It is characterized by a high degree of cellular differentiation, slow growth, and diffuse infiltration of neighboring brain structures.

(Adult Diffuse Astrocytoma, NCI Thesaurus)