TERMINAL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does terminal mean? 

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

1. station where transport vehicles load or unload passengers or goods

2. a contact on an electrical device (such as a battery) at which electric current enters or leaves

3. either extremity of something that has length

4. electronic equipment consisting of a device providing access to a computer; has a keyboard and display

  Familiarity information: TERMINAL used as a noun is uncommon.

• TERMINAL (adjective)
  The adjective TERMINAL has 5 senses:

1. of or relating to or situated at the ends of a delivery route

2. relating to or occurring in a term or fixed period of time

3. being or situated at an end

4. occurring at or forming an end or termination

5. causing or ending in or approaching death

  Familiarity information: TERMINAL used as an adjective is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TERMINAL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Station where transport vehicles load or unload passengers or goods

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

depot; terminal; terminus

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

station (a facility equipped with special equipment and personnel for a particular purpose)

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

bus depot; bus station; bus terminal; coach station (a terminal that serves bus passengers)

cathode (the positively charged terminal of a voltaic cell or storage battery that supplies current)

railroad station; railroad terminal; railway station; train depot; train station (terminal where trains load or unload passengers or goods)

subway station (a terminal where subways load and unload passengers)

air terminal; airport terminal (a terminal that serves air travelers or air freight)

Holonyms ("terminal" is a part of...):

transit; transportation; transportation system (a facility consisting of the means and equipment necessary for the movement of passengers or goods)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A contact on an electrical device (such as a battery) at which electric current enters or leaves

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

pole; terminal

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

contact; tangency ((electronics) a junction where things (as two electrical conductors) touch or are in physical contact)

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

positive pole (the terminal of a battery that is connected to the positive plate)

negative pole (the terminal of a battery that is connected to the negative plate)

anode (the negatively charged terminal of a voltaic cell or storage battery that supplies current)

Holonyms ("terminal" is a part of...):

electrical device (a device that produces or is powered by electricity)

battery; electric battery (a device that produces electricity; may have several primary or secondary cells arranged in parallel or series)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Either extremity of something that has length

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Synonyms:

end; terminal

Context example:

the terminals of the anterior arches of the fornix

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

extremity (the outermost or farthest region or point)

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

tip (the extreme end of something; especially something pointed)

destination; finish; goal (the place designated as the end (as of a race or journey))

end point; endpoint; termination; terminus (a place where something ends or is complete)

heel (one of the crusty ends of a loaf of bread)

telomere (either (free) end of a eukaryotic chromosome)

nerve end; nerve ending (the terminal structure of an axon that does not end at a synapse)

yardarm (either end of the yard of a square-rigged ship)

terminus (either end of a railroad or bus route)

railhead (the end of the completed track on an unfinished railway)

magnetic pole; pole (one of the two ends of a magnet where the magnetism seems to be concentrated)

point (sharp end)

heel (the lower end of a ship's mast)

bitthead (the upper end of a bitt)

bitter end ((nautical) the inboard end of a line or cable especially the end that is wound around a bitt)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Electronic equipment consisting of a device providing access to a computer; has a keyboard and display

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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

electronic equipment (equipment that involves the controlled conduction of electrons (especially in a gas or vacuum or semiconductor))

Meronyms (parts of "terminal"):

keyboard (device consisting of a set of keys on a piano or organ or typewriter or typesetting machine or computer or the like)

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

job-oriented terminal (a terminal designed for a particular application)

link-attached station; link-attached terminal; remote station; remote terminal (a terminal connected to a computer by a data link)

• TERMINAL (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of or relating to or situated at the ends of a delivery route

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Context example:

terminal charges

Pertainym:

terminus (either end of a railroad or bus route)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Relating to or occurring in a term or fixed period of time

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Context example:

terminal payments

Pertainym:

term (a limited period of time)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Being or situated at an end

Context example:

the terminal syllable

Antonym:

intermediate (lying between two extremes in time or space or state)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Occurring at or forming an end or termination

Synonyms:

concluding; final; last; terminal

Context example:

terminal leave

Similar:

closing (final or ending)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Causing or ending in or approaching death

Context example:

terminal cancer

Similar:

fatal (bringing death)

 Context examples 

The 632-amino acid adaptor protein contains a PH domain, a SH2 domain, and a C-terminal tyrosine phosphorylation site.

(APS Protein, NCI Thesaurus)

Membrane-Associated Guanylate Kinase Family Genes encode MAGUK (Membrane-Associated GUanylate Kinase homolog) proteins containing DHR, SH3, and C-terminal GK-like domains.

(Membrane-Associated Guanylate Kinase Family Gene, NCI Thesaurus)

Solitary or multiple foci of increased cellularity distal to terminal bronchioles.

(Alveoli Epithelial Hyperplasia of the Mouse Pulmonary System, NCI Thesaurus/MMHCC)

ACE is a di-peptidase, cleaving off 2 peptides from the c-terminal end of angiotensin.

(Angiotensin-converting Enzyme 2 Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

They called this previously undescribed class of high-threshold mechanoreceptors (HTMRs) “circ-HTMRs,” due to the unusual nerve terminals these neurons made in skin.

(Study uncovers specialized mouse neurons that play a unique role in pain, National Institutes of Health)

This protein is comprised of the N-terminal AT hook and DNA methyltransferase domains of histone-lysine N-methyltransferase MLL fused to all but the first 46 amino acids of the RNA polymerase II elongation factor ELL.

(MLL/ELL Fusion Protein, NCI Thesaurus)

Amantadine exerts its antiparkinsonian effects by stimulating the release of dopamine from striatal dopaminergic nerve terminals and inhibiting its pre-synaptic reuptake.

(Amantadine, NCI Thesaurus)

Any of the terminal sacs in the lungs through which gas exchange takes place with the pulmonary capillary blood.

(Alveolus, NCI Thesaurus)

ALS is a progressive and terminal disease that damages the function of nerves and muscle.

(Mechanism behind neuron death in motor neurone disease and frontotemporal dementia discovered, University of Cambridge)

However, it is not currently known how or why these brain cells lose function, particularly in the terminal stage of these illnesses.

(New Mechanisms Found of Cell Death in Neurodegenerative Disorders, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)