VECTOR

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does vector mean? 

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

1. a variable quantity that can be resolved into components

2. a straight line segment whose length is magnitude and whose orientation in space is direction

3. any agent (person or animal or microorganism) that carries and transmits a disease

4. (genetics) a virus or other agent that is used to deliver DNA to a cell

  Familiarity information: VECTOR used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• VECTOR (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A variable quantity that can be resolved into components

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

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

variable; variable quantity (a quantity that can assume any of a set of values)

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

cross product; vector product (a vector that is the product of two other vectors)

resultant; vector sum (a vector that is the sum of two or more other vectors)

radius vector (a line connecting a point in space to the origin of a polar coordinate system)

radius vector (a line connecting a satellite to the center of the body around which it is rotating)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A straight line segment whose length is magnitude and whose orientation in space is direction

Classified under:

Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes

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

straight line (a line traced by a point traveling in a constant direction; a line of zero curvature)

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

ray ((mathematics) a straight line extending from a point)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Any agent (person or animal or microorganism) that carries and transmits a disease

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

transmitter; vector

Context example:

when medical scientists talk about vectors they are usually talking about insects

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

agent (an active and efficient cause; capable of producing a certain effect)

Domain category:

animal; animate being; beast; brute; creature; fauna (a living organism characterized by voluntary movement)

micro-organism; microorganism (any organism of microscopic size)

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

gene delivery vector; transducing vector (a vector for delivering genes into cells)

carrier; immune carrier ((medicine) a person (or animal) who has some pathogen to which he is immune but who can pass it on to others)

Sense 4

Meaning:

(genetics) a virus or other agent that is used to deliver DNA to a cell

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

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

virus ((virology) ultramicroscopic infectious agent that replicates itself only within cells of living hosts; many are pathogenic; a piece of nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) wrapped in a thin coat of protein)

Domain category:

genetic science; genetics (the branch of biology that studies heredity and variation in organisms)

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

cosmid ((genetics) a large vector that is made from a bacteriophage and used to clone genes or gene fragments)

 Context examples 

Interruption of the ICP6 gene, which encodes the large subunit of the viral ribonucleotide reductase, in the viral vector also enhances selective replication in tumor cells.

(Oncolytic Herpes Simplex Virus-1-encoding GM-CSF, NCI Thesaurus)

They attached this viral vector to the scaffolds and then added the stem cells, which attached and grew.

(Stem cells grown on scaffold mimic hip joint cartilage, NIH)

A replication-defective adenoviral-CMV vector that encodes a wild-type p53 gene.

(Ad5CMV-p53 Gene, NCI Thesaurus)

The approach takes advantage of viruses that infect humans but don’t cause disease, called vectors.

(Gene Therapy Used to Treat Hemophilia, NIH)

Warming global temperatures are facilitating the spread of the vector mosquitoes into new areas, or increasing incidence of the disease where it is already present.

(Mosquitos rendered infertile by biological engineering, SciDev.Net)

A gene-vector complex composed of a gene or genetic material and a non-viral gene transduction agent.

(Non-Viral Vector-Gene Complex, NCI Thesaurus)

Upon administration into the peritumoral region after tumor resection, adenoviral vector encoding HSV thymidine kinase is transduced into tumor cells, and HSV-tk is expressed.

(Ad-hCMV-TK, NCI Thesaurus)

A gene viral vector complex comprised of a replication-defective adenovirus and a herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase gene that activates ganciclovir, causing inhibition of DNA synthesis and apoptosis.

(Adenovirus RSV-TK, NCI Thesaurus)

Unlike most other vectors, adenovirus vectors have the ability to infect post-mitotic cells.

(Adenovirus Vector, NCI Thesaurus)

A preparation of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) transduced with a retroviral vector encoding a T cell chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) specific for mesothelin with potential immunostimulatory and antineoplastic activities.

(Mesothelin-specific Chimeric Antigen Receptor-engineered Peripheral Blood Lymphocytes, NCI Thesaurus)