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Crossword clues for function

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
function
I.noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
dual role/purpose/function
▪ The bridge has a dual role, carrying both road and rail.
fulfil a role/duty/function etc
▪ A good police officer is not fulfilling his role if he neglects this vital aspect.
function key
function word
perform a function/role
▪ The two organizations perform similar functions.
serve a useful purpose/function (=be useful)
▪ Sending her to prison would serve no useful purpose.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
administrative
▪ In the absence of any clear division between administrative and judicial functions, even the humblest official enjoyed arbitrary power.
▪ They may be said to be exercising an administrative function.
▪ The cardinals joined in all the rapidly growing administrative and judicial functions of the papal court.
▪ There are additional administrative functions, such as the submission of a statement of affairs and the making of reports on specified matters.
▪ Routine administrative functions were sited in the free-standing towns and cities within a hundred or so miles of London. 7.
▪ Confusion also arose when schools took over administrative functions which traditionally had been located in LEAs.
▪ Robson recognized that, throughout history, courts have performed administrative functions and administrative bodies have undertaken judicial functions.
▪ Where administrative functions are not discharged by autonomous agencies, they are largely devolved to the Länder.
basic
▪ Describe briefly the basic function of the reception office, enumerating the services it provides. 6.
▪ Confiscatory taxes and overly complex tax regulations make it exceedingly difficult for small business to perform this basic function.
▪ They begin by challenging the current opinion that all peoples share basic functions of the mind such as logical and abstract abilities.
▪ When customers judge a company, they judge the totality, not the basic function.
▪ The subset containing fabliaux with lavatory humour, tales concerning basic bodily functions of excretion or flatulence, are fewer in number.
▪ It may be argued that this was not a new concept of the basic function of monarchy; perhaps so.
▪ Like Friedman, Duesenberry believed that the basic consumption function was long-run and proportional, as illustrated in Fig. 7.
▪ The combined package with the basic function of Photoshop Version 2.5, enables users to input and edit images with their computer.
bodily
▪ Bob's humour was based on everything from swearing to drug-taking and bodily functions.
▪ Any thoughts I had of eating, drinking or relieving bodily functions were forgotten.
▪ Most people consider elimination to be a very private bodily function and therefore find it an embarrassing subject to discuss with hospital staff.
▪ The intimate aspects of bodily function are more easily expressed with a person of the same gender.
▪ Their sensory perception as well as their motor responses - their behaviour - are thus totally consonant with their bodily form and function.
▪ It was the fact of having bodily functions.
▪ In many ways this day felt ordinary, too. Bodily functions went on.
▪ If the neurons control automatic bodily functions, heart rate and breathing are impaired.
different
▪ This suggests that a marked theme has an additional or different function.
▪ Each switch feels different and controls a different manipulator function.
▪ The reason is that they have different functions, which impose different constraints on their nature.
▪ But hidden from immediate viewing, they fulfill a different function.
▪ The Disney-inspired theme parks serve an only slightly different function.
▪ A cemetery and a museum are two different institutions that have different functions.
▪ The newspaper reports, however, serve a different function and illustrate the dangers of young teenage temptresses.
▪ In a metaphorical sense, different functions of the brain take place in different rooms.
dual
▪ In similar vein, dare it be said that the charitable function of Age Concern serves this dual function?
▪ For women preachers in particular, these testimony stories fulfill a dual function.
▪ It will have a dual function.
▪ Of the fifteen rotary controls that adorn the S120's front panel, all except one is dual function.
▪ This method serves a dual function - it will absorb irregularities in the existing floorboards, and also muffle sound.
▪ It was seen to derive directly from the dual functions of the state, the securing of accumulation and legitimation.
▪ As a New Town, Cramlington has always had a dual function.
▪ Hence medicine under capitalism has a dual function, both liberating and controlling.
important
▪ Its first important function as a bank is as banker to the government.
▪ This chemical has several important functions, including regulating motivation, mood and movement.
▪ The yardages for each tournament are the single most important function of a caddie.
▪ The financial work performed by budget analysts is an important function in every organization.
▪ In addition to channelling funds from depositors to borrowers, certain financial institutions have another important function.
▪ Effective control of this circulating capital is one of the most important functions of financial management.
▪ The above description clearly denotes an extremely important function.
▪ The third important function provided by the factor is the assumption of risk of bad-debt lOsses.
main
▪ The two other main functions concerned contrasting ways of judging and ordering these perceptions.
▪ Its main function was teaching, through evening classes.
▪ Describe the five main functions of money. 3.
▪ Its main function, however, appears to be to present a better image of Sri Lanka to the outside world.
▪ The main function of scholarship surely lies in keeping alive the wonderful minds, works of art and thought of earlier generations.
▪ A good starting point is a check list with sections covering criteria for acceptance by all the main company functions.
▪ Sugar was asked to change something which was peripheral to the main function of the machine.
▪ The Commission's main function is the conservation and protection of the salmon fisheries of the Foyle area.
normal
▪ The presence of HAPCs was suggestive of normal colonic function.
▪ Although such inhibition might seem counterproductive, it is actually crucial. Normal brain function depends on both excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters.
▪ But not all pretended deeds have to fall short of their normal function in order to accomplish their communicative purpose.
▪ Increased military intrusion into civilian life, with many normal police functions usurped by the Pentagon.
▪ Simply removing this stress can, in many instances, restore an individual to normal function without any other therapy being required.
▪ Analysis of normal and abnormal function of central pattern generators probably has a more general significance.
▪ Non-parallel enzyme secretion has been shown in patients with normal pancreatic function under certain stimulatory conditions.
objective
▪ Class origins are less important than the objective function of serving the interests of the ruling class.
▪ We first observe that T1 is uniquely optimal for the objective function because we would have.
▪ Similarly, there is an objective function which has T2 as its optimal tableau.
▪ In general, we will examine problems having p linear objective functions,, which we wish to maximise subject to linear constraints.
▪ However, the objective function increases if we increase any variable.
▪ To accommodate multiple objectives, we will extend the simplex tableau by including an additional objective row for each objective function.
▪ This involves specifying a goal or target value for the objective function.
▪ The up-pseudo-cost is where is the objective function value of the up-problem.
other
▪ Is it just to do with production quality control or does it also embrace marketing, accounting and other functions?
▪ It was several preceptors phasing out together, Posi later explained, that threw directional control and some other functions out of kilter.
▪ The two other main functions concerned contrasting ways of judging and ordering these perceptions.
▪ Most of the actual work of book provision is operated on an area basis - in common with other functions of the library service.
▪ Among the other functions is ruled-based message management.
▪ A second reduction of available resources is due to short term problems in other company functions.
▪ A dedicated server is one that has no other function but to act as a servant to the workstations.
▪ The laws of war may have one other function in the contemporary era - helping to harmonise standards between allies.
primary
▪ When the mouse cursor enters this menu bar the main menu is displayed which controls the 19 primary functions of MegaCAD.
▪ The specialization of functions has a dispersive effect and a primary function of government becomes that of securing co-ordination amongst the parts.
▪ Damage in this case does not compromise the primary function, that of producing traction.
▪ This space was purpose-built for exhibitions, and this should remain its primary function.
▪ The primary function of snake venom is, of course, to quieten prey before swallowing them.
▪ When economic growth depends upon spending before saving, shopping must be the primary function of the female in the consumer economy.
▪ The primary function of the Magistrates' Court is to try criminal cases.
public
▪ The administration of justice by such bodies is a public function even when all the parties to the action are non-governmental.
▪ Both individual health care coverage and core public health functions are needed to maintain health at the community level.
▪ These are essentially public law functions.
▪ There is no reason why a contractual body performing public functions should not be amenable to these remedies.
▪ Many have their public relations function handled by an outside consultancy as well as by an internal public relations officer.
▪ My own recollections begin at a public function just over 20 years ago.
▪ Equally they sustain as well as designate those who discharge public functions.
social
▪ August is a fairly quiet month in Shetland apart from social functions like sailing regattas.
▪ Laughter, he says, serves some primitive social function, not yet nailed down.
▪ Go out and mix with people - in their homes, at social functions, on public transport, in community activities.
▪ They may also additionally represent much more; they may indeed have a highly integrating social function.
▪ Much depends on the social function of labelling criminal offences, and on the particular labels chosen.
▪ What has to be specified in this explanation is the social function which all these diverse customs serve.
▪ The Playhouse is the ideal venue for your Conference, Exhibition or social function.
▪ Moving on was a prophylactic, a social cleansing function, keeping one's beat clean.
specific
▪ Some specific functions can only be conferred by an order made by the Lord Chancellor.
▪ The defining metaphor for this innovation was the biological cell, which performs specific functions and communicates with other cells.
▪ Generally fitted with one, two or three buttons which can control specific software functions.
▪ More specific functions of academic statuses might be explored.
▪ They can also change character: during development cells change from having rather unspecialized characters to mature cells with very specific functions.
▪ In universities or large school systems, responsibilities are divided among many administrators, each with a specific function.
▪ First, each is assigned to a specific function with a functional boss.
useful
▪ Yet it does perform a number of useful functions. 1.
▪ The use of categories, when those categories serve a useful function, is not questioned.
▪ We've found a tiny offshoot of imagination that once, like the appendix doubtless had some useful function.
▪ This so-called parasitic genetic material turns out to serve a useful evolutionary function.
▪ While it survived, it served a useful function in obtaining agreement on some economic questions such as currency convertibility and capital transfers.
▪ They present and practise grammar and useful language functions, such as explaining, defining and comparing.
▪ To be fair, these materials performed a useful function for a time in the propellers of Spitfires and similar aircraft.
▪ One useful function of hypotheses is that they help to indicate what data are needed for their testing.
various
▪ It comes bundled with Windows 3.1, and a proprietary front-end, which uses graphics to depict the various functions provided.
▪ The President, I was sure, was now making up his explanations of the various Citadel command-post functions.
▪ The head, if that's what it is, is crowned with a tuft of rubbery antennae serving various functions.
▪ In between, he designed software for his phone systems, which allow callers to perform various functions through a voice menu.
▪ Ministry seems to have grown up in a haphazard manner, basically in response to the need that various functions be performed.
▪ Armed with his Bumper Fun Book, the minister of Dunlop joked his way around the world at various functions.
▪ These symbols represent the various functions that are available to help you with your designing.
▪ The state has various executive functions.
■ NOUN
word
▪ Since words in the closed class have a syntactic rather than a semantic role in utterances they are also known as function words.
▪ The relational devices such as word order and function words are explicit ways of linking ideas.
▪ As we have seen many inappropriate parsings are constructed primarily from function words and their reduced forms.
▪ Secondly, the current technique makes no use of function words.
▪ Is it a problem of word order, government, function word, or what?
▪ The selection of a particular planning frame commits the speaker to using certain function words and affixes and not others.
▪ Why is it that content words tend to be preserved and function words omitted?
▪ This patient's verbal output consisted almost entirely of content words there were almost no function words and no grammatical structure.
■ VERB
fulfil
▪ Law can not fulfil this function unless the decisions of the legal institutions are binding or non-optional.
▪ In fulfilling these three functions, two duties are imposed upon the Commissioner.
▪ Where site assembly is involved, the speculator fulfils a valuable function.
▪ Such punitive gestures fulfilled the important function of maintaining mechanical solidarity at the requisite pitch.
▪ Generations of Spencer men and women have fulfilled the functions of Lord Chamberlain, equerry, lady-in-waiting and other positions at Court.
▪ We have fulfilled our biological function.
▪ It thus fulfils the affirmative function of transmission and the negative function of prevention, both of which are designated semantically.
▪ Comprehension of negative sentences is facilitated when negation is being used to fulfil one of these functions.
perform
▪ In all these senses, therefore, the exclusively training model performs no educational function at all.
▪ The defining metaphor for this innovation was the biological cell, which performs specific functions and communicates with other cells.
▪ Because stress is not available in written language, intricate syntactic devices have to be used to perform a similar function.
▪ What happens when a thing no longer performs its function?
▪ The jaw action is scissor-like and both tooth and jaw bone can perform the cutting function.
▪ McLanahan and Sandefur seem to assume, also, that only fathers can perform certain functions within the family.
▪ In addition, the tutor can advise on alternative equipment or software which will perform the required functions more quickly or more effectively.
▪ In between, he designed software for his phone systems, which allow callers to perform various functions through a voice menu.
serve
▪ The newspaper reports, however, serve a different function and illustrate the dangers of young teenage temptresses.
▪ The use of categories, when those categories serve a useful function, is not questioned.
▪ However, as a lot of the controls serve two functions, some initial confusion can arise.
▪ It passes through many of the abandoned towns that at one time served auxiliary functions to the mines of Tombstone.
▪ The development of reliable text recognition procedures would serve two important functions.
▪ When you stop to think of it, every object is similar to the umbrella, in that it serves a function.
▪ The ozone molecules are very thinly spread within this area but their fragile existence nevertheless serves a vital function to life.
▪ This so-called parasitic genetic material turns out to serve a useful evolutionary function.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Bauhaus architects thought that function was more important than form.
▪ Each basket is designed to perform a specific function, from carrying corn to holding babies.
▪ His specialist service is in constant demand for big corporate functions.
▪ Long term exercise changes the function of the heart, blood, and muscles.
▪ Part of her duties is attending official state functions.
▪ Several instructors could not answer questions about the function of a particular switch.
▪ The function of this gene is to block the uncontrolled division of cells; it therefore prevents the development of cancer.
▪ The Great Hall is available for weddings and other social functions.
▪ The Lavender Room can be booked for functions or parties.
▪ The main function of the bars is to protect the driver's legs.
▪ What is the function of literature in our society?
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Hepatic damage has also been reported; thus, periodic liver functions should be done.
▪ Kerberos may be adequate for those who do not need the more robust functions and properties of public-key systems.
▪ Oral fluids are introduced gradually until a normal level is reached. 4 Once bowel function returns diet is gradually re-introduced.
▪ The defining metaphor for this innovation was the biological cell, which performs specific functions and communicates with other cells.
▪ The part of the job he liked best was standing up at grand civic functions and bathing in the applause.
▪ This reflects the Society's function to monitor and maintain the highest professional standards.
▪ This teaching function, though, declined sharply after 1380 with the establishment of Durham College at Oxford.
▪ Yet it does perform a number of useful functions. 1.
II.verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
correctly
▪ In Mr Warren's case, the intoximeter at the police station did not function correctly and so samples were required.
▪ Other errors are unlikely to cause any damage - the supply will simply not function correctly.
▪ Her brain wasn't functioning correctly.
effectively
▪ The difficulty was that the courts were unable to function effectively.
▪ Public scepticism and opposition had to be overcome before the system could function effectively, he said.
▪ Many new organizations and businesses have been, to lesser and greater degrees, designed to function effectively in this volatile climate.
▪ Such open-mindedness is an essential part of the missionary gift which the Church needs in order to function effectively in any cross-cultural situation.
▪ Second, we believe that civilized society can not function effectively without effective government-something that is all too rare today.
▪ However, without all this the infantry's most vital asset, the soldier, does not function effectively.
▪ In order for the dialogue to function effectively, there are rules of procedure which all participants have to accept.
independently
▪ The other side of the movie is structured by a choreography that seems to function independently of the screenplay.
▪ A person who has been successful in separating psychologically from parents is equipped to function independently in both play and work.
normally
▪ It may be that that individual does not function normally as a consequence of the sensory deprivation.
▪ Collagen normally functions like steel reinforcing rods in a concrete structure.
▪ In the past most of us have been unaware of these signs and that is why our body ceases to function normally.
▪ Provided the liver is functioning normally, the amount of dye retained after 45 minutes should be less than 6 percent.
▪ A biopsy of brain tissue detected the presence of toxoplasmosis, which is relatively harmless in people with normally functioning immune systems.
▪ But they functioned normally on the farm, he said.
▪ Perhaps she would never again be able to function normally.
▪ Cocaine users often feel as though they need the drug to relieve themselves of the tired feeling and to function normally.
perfectly
▪ Most modern computers will function perfectly well over short cable lengths at these reduced signal levels.
properly
▪ The monetary role enabled the coin to function properly as a coin by ensuring that it circulated smoothly and without interruption.
▪ About two-thirds of all collisions at state public crossings actually occur where everything is functioning properly.
▪ Pull one part out and all of the others cease to function properly.
▪ The bacteria can enter the bloodstream, but are usually quickly destroyed when antibodies and the immune system function properly.
▪ Thanks to a sound system that fails to function properly, Kevin's words of diseased warning and wisdom are indecipherable.
▪ Impairment describes parts or systems of the body which do not function properly such as hearing or sight.
▪ It is this secondary mandate which ensures that our bi-cameral system can properly function.
▪ For nearly 45 years, it was unable to function properly because it became a political battleground in the Cold War.
still
▪ We must assume that creatures whose machines still function after three million years may build a society equally long-lasting.
▪ I could still function out in the provinces, where local political barons had their own media agendas.
▪ Often seen in the movies, this 1924 building across from MacArthur Park still functions as a hotel.
▪ Even if every adenosine receptor in your brain were blocked by caffeine, you could still function.
well
▪ No hospital can function well without receptionists, cleaners, administrators, porters and all the other ancillary staff.
▪ This final, preferred mode of response is much more likely to keep your immune system functioning well.
▪ The company was functioning well as a business entity and making inroads all the time creatively.
▪ He ensured that our institutions functioned well.
▪ One person may function well in most areas of life, but be paranoid and hostile in certain circumstances.
▪ I just could not function well in an adversarial role.
■ NOUN
ability
▪ There was no difference in the 1, 700 patients' ability to function or in their death rates.
body
▪ In the past most of us have been unaware of these signs and that is why our body ceases to function normally.
▪ Impairment describes parts or systems of the body which do not function properly such as hearing or sight.
brain
▪ There was grief and shock, but another part of his brain was functioning - the reporter's.
▪ Her brain wasn't functioning correctly.
▪ Was it her fault if her brain wouldn't function at a normal level?
▪ Neural network efforts pay more attention to how the brain functions.
▪ His brain functioned, but on a detached, robotic level.
family
▪ The two families function as one.
▪ The object was to keep the family functioning as normally as possible, and for many families it worked.
government
▪ Dole has promised to seek a balanced budget by 2002, but he also realizes that the government must continue to function.
▪ But at least the government is functioning.
▪ We want our government to function in a manner befitting the last superpower on earth.
▪ The proposed charter is a combination of paranoia, elitism, staff manipulation and basic ignorance about how government really functions.
group
▪ To no other group of soldiers functioning in this period was leadership a factor of such prime importance.
▪ The groups can function like political campaigns or professional sports teams, carrying their own psychic rewards.
▪ It took a year to train a group of people to function as the general managers.
▪ If it stops producing, large numbers of other units whose work follows from this group can not function.
level
▪ Is that ambition functioning at a high level or is it just a sense of obligation or is it idealism?
▪ Was it her fault if her brain wouldn't function at a normal level?
▪ The real distribution of power describes the allocation of power and functions across these levels of government.
society
▪ Remove her, and the rest of the society ceases to function.
▪ It will not be eager to initiate those steps which would enable that society to function in unmanageable or unexpected ways.
▪ Second, we believe that civilized society can not function effectively without effective government-something that is all too rare today.
system
▪ So faster wage rises were needed if the system was to function smoothly.
▪ Public scepticism and opposition had to be overcome before the system could function effectively, he said.
▪ Thanks to a sound system that fails to function properly, Kevin's words of diseased warning and wisdom are indecipherable.
▪ The system functions as a turnkey management solution to service providers, making their operation more efficient and profitable.
▪ It is this secondary mandate which ensures that our bi-cameral system can properly function.
▪ This final, preferred mode of response is much more likely to keep your immune system functioning well.
way
▪ Want was all he could do, for his body had long ago ceased to function in that way.
▪ I intend for these appendices to function in a similar way.
▪ Elements of behaviour like these can function in a similar way to eye contact.
▪ The White House initiative functioned in this way not as a mandate but as a disincentive.
▪ First of all, an orchestra, if it is functioning in the best way, is a creative unit.
▪ Others function in new ways that allow for different physical laws.
▪ The market is said to function in the following way.
▪ Nor do they all function in the same way.
■ VERB
allow
▪ With certain limited exceptions all care provisions require a permit by the youth department in order to be allowed to function.
▪ While the confederation is technically illegal, it has been allowed to function openly.
▪ Within schools, structures and procedures must be created which discriminate between management and leadership and allow each to function appropriately.
begin
▪ It must be remembered that once these batteries are inserted into the transmitter they begin to function.
▪ Once the school began functioning smoothly, Friedman turned his attention to the blacker side of the organization: interception and solution.
cease
▪ In the past most of us have been unaware of these signs and that is why our body ceases to function normally.
▪ She stood as if her body had ceased to function, her thoughts fixated on her cozy, smoky kang.
▪ Want was all he could do, for his body had long ago ceased to function in that way.
▪ Moreover, the assessment tests had ceased to function as barriers to the remedial curriculum on many campuses.
▪ It stopped, ceased to function.
▪ In Brixton consultative machinery involving the police and community leaders had ceased to function.
▪ Pull one part out and all of the others cease to function properly.
▪ Woolton told Churchill his supervisory role had largely ceased to function.
continue
▪ How they might continue to function is, however, a different matter.
▪ Dole has promised to seek a balanced budget by 2002, but he also realizes that the government must continue to function.
▪ A compromise must be reached if the organization is to continue to function.
▪ In 1978, when the factory moved, the union was officially dissolved although it continued to function secretly.
▪ He suffered several illnesses while president, although he continued to function adequately.
▪ It was this rivalry that allowed the bank to continue to function after the Tampa arrests, much to Mazur's disgust.
▪ By adaptability I mean the ability of a system to continue to function in the face of an uncertain or unknown environment.
enable
▪ The monetary role enabled the coin to function properly as a coin by ensuring that it circulated smoothly and without interruption.
▪ It will not be eager to initiate those steps which would enable that society to function in unmanageable or unexpected ways.
▪ Ultimately, only the strength of the denial system enables the sufferer to function at all.
▪ There are four interacting systems within the organism's black box that enable it to function effectively.
▪ And to enable coinage to function smoothly it must be properly controlled by that authority.
▪ He would understand in detail the working of the mechanism of the clock, which enables it to function as it does.
fail
▪ Thanks to a sound system that fails to function properly, Kevin's words of diseased warning and wisdom are indecipherable.
▪ Thursday, the supertitles failed to function through much of the first act.
keep
▪ This final, preferred mode of response is much more likely to keep your immune system functioning well.
▪ The object was to keep the family functioning as normally as possible, and for many families it worked.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Ancient Egyptians used herbs to help the stomach function naturally.
▪ The alarm system was not functioning when the paintings were stolen.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ About two-thirds of all collisions at state public crossings actually occur where everything is functioning properly.
▪ As well as not functioning in a submersed situation, dying cells, releasing adverse substances will pollute the water.
▪ But the land lab continues to function as a base for their operations.
▪ Cocaine users often feel as though they need the drug to relieve themselves of the tired feeling and to function normally.
▪ Even if your memory starts functioning by then the forecast is diabolical.
▪ It is worthwhile stating the obvious, that biosensors do not function for ever and will fail eventually.
▪ This is a real, functioning dictionary, an astonishingly impressive work of reference and research, however you look at it.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
function

Fluent \Flu"ent\, n.

  1. A current of water; a stream. [Obs.]

  2. [Cf. F. fluente.] (Math.) A variable quantity, considered as increasing or diminishing; -- called, in the modern calculus, the function or integral.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
function

1530s, "one's proper work or purpose; power of acting in a specific proper way," from Middle French fonction (16c.) and directly from Latin functionem (nominative functio) "a performance, an execution," noun of action from funct-, past participle stem of fungi "perform, execute, discharge," from PIE root *bheug- (2) "to use, enjoy" (see brook (v.)). Meaning "official ceremony" is from 1630s, originally in church use. Use in mathematics probably was begun by Leibnitz (1692). In reference to computer operations, 1947.

function

1844, "perform a function" (intransitive), from function (n.). Related: Functioned; functioning.

Wiktionary
function

n. What something does or is used for. vb. 1 (context intransitive English) to have a function 2 (context intransitive English) to carry on a function; to be in action

WordNet
function
  1. n. a mathematical relation such that each element of one set is associated with at least one element of another set [syn: mathematical function]

  2. what something is used for; "the function of an auger is to bore holes"; "ballet is beautiful but what use is it?" [syn: purpose, role, use]

  3. the actions and activities assigned to or required or expected of a person or group; "the function of a teacher"; "the government must do its part"; "play its role" [syn: office, part, role]

  4. a relation such that one thing is dependent on another; "height is a function of age"; "price is a function of supply and demand"

  5. a formal or official social gathering or ceremony; "it was a black-tie function"

  6. a vaguely specified social event; "the party was quite an affair"; "an occasion arranged to honor the president"; "a seemingly endless round of social functions" [syn: affair, occasion, social occasion, social function]

  7. a set sequence of steps, part of larger computer program [syn: routine, subroutine, subprogram, procedure]

  8. v. perform as expected when applied; "The washing machine won't go unless it's plugged in"; "Does this old car still run well?"; "This old radio doesn't work anymore" [syn: work, operate, go, run] [ant: malfunction]

  9. serve a purpose, role, or function; "The tree stump serves as a table"; "The female students served as a control group"; "This table would serve very well"; "His freedom served him well"; "The table functions as a desk" [syn: serve]

  10. perform duties attached to a particular office or place or function; "His wife officiated as his private secretary" [syn: officiate]

Wikipedia
Function

Function may refer to:

Function (biology)

A biological function is the reason some object or process occurred in a system that evolved through a process of selection or natural selection. Thus, function refers forward from the object or process, along some chain of causation, to the goal or success. Compare this to the mechanism of the object or process, which looks backward along some chain of causation, explaining how the feature occurred.

Function (engineering)

In engineering, a function is interpreted as a specific process, action or task that a system is able to perform.

Function (song)

"Function" is the third single from E-40's 16th studio album The Block Brochure: Welcome to the Soil 2. The song features fellow rappers YG, Iamsu! and Problem. The song is produced by Trend of the group League of Star 2012.

Function (musician)

David Charles Sumner (born 1 December 1973), who records as Function, is an American techno DJ and producer.

Born in the Canarsie area of Brooklyn in New York City Sumner's early musical interests included Kraftwerk, Afrika Bambaataa, Man Parrish, John Robie and Arthur Baker, The Human League, New Order and Depeche Mode. He first took to DJing in 1986 and released his first record in 1996, producing work on the Synewave label and becoming the only non- Birmingham Dj to release work on the Downwards Records label.

In 2004 Sumner joined Regis's Sandwell District collective.

Function (mathematics)

In mathematics, a function is a relation between a set of inputs and a set of permissible outputs with the property that each input is related to exactly one output. An example is the function that relates each real number x to its square x. The output of a function f corresponding to an input x is denoted by f(x) (read "f of x"). In this example, if the input is −3, then the output is 9, and we may write . Likewise, if the input is 3, then the output is also 9, and we may write . (The same output may be produced by more than one input, but each input gives only one output.) The input variable(s) are sometimes referred to as the argument(s) of the function.

Functions of various kinds are "the central objects of investigation" in most fields of modern mathematics. There are many ways to describe or represent a function. Some functions may be defined by a formula or algorithm that tells how to compute the output for a given input. Others are given by a picture, called the graph of the function. In science, functions are sometimes defined by a table that gives the outputs for selected inputs. A function could be described implicitly, for example as the inverse to another function or as a solution of a differential equation.

The input and output of a function can be expressed as an ordered pair, ordered so that the first element is the input (or tuple of inputs, if the function takes more than one input), and the second is the output. In the example above, , we have the ordered pair . If both input and output are real numbers, this ordered pair can be viewed as the Cartesian coordinates of a point on the graph of the function.

In modern mathematics, a function is defined by its set of inputs, called the domain; a set containing the set of outputs, and possibly additional elements, as members, called its codomain; and the set of all input-output pairs, called its graph. Sometimes the codomain is called the function's "range", but more commonly the word "range" is used to mean, instead, specifically the set of outputs (this is also called the image of the function). For example, we could define a function using the rule by saying that the domain and codomain are the real numbers, and that the graph consists of all pairs of real numbers . The image of this function is the set of non-negative real numbers. Collections of functions with the same domain and the same codomain are called function spaces, the properties of which are studied in such mathematical disciplines as real analysis, complex analysis, and functional analysis.

In analogy with arithmetic, it is possible to define addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of functions, in those cases where the output is a number. Another important operation defined on functions is function composition, where the output from one function becomes the input to another function.

Usage examples of "function".

Such persons may be accustomed to luxurious living, and there is evidently a predisposition to abnormal activity of the alimentary functions.

He turned to his brother, to include him by explanation, aware that at a time like this he was reminded forcefully that he had no function aboard the ship.

Their structure is remarkable, and their functions complex, for they secrete, absorb, and are acted on by various stimulants.

Each great natural family has requisites that define it, and the characters that make it recognizable are the nearest to these fundamental conditions: thus, reproduction being the major function of the plant, the embryo will be its most important part, and it becomes possible to divide the vegetable kingdom into three classes: acotyledons, monocotyledons, and dicotyledons.

It is certainly admissible evidence that when the twenty-first is blurred or damaged to any degree, brain function is inhibited.

Our opponents after first admitting the unity go on to make our soul dependent on something else, something in which we have no longer the soul of this or that, even of the universe, but a soul of nowhere, a soul belonging neither to the kosmos, nor to anything else, and yet vested with all the function inherent to the kosmic soul and to that of every ensouled thing.

As salespeople performed fewer persuasive sales functions, retailers began to advertise more.

An enclitic, similar in function to bara, except that it indicates that a preceding verb is the name of the following element in the agglutinated term, as in Darabeldal, Flowing Lake.

Neb and Pencroft, on whom the functions of cooks naturally devolved, to the one in his quality of Negro, to the other in that of sailor, quickly prepared some broiled agouti, to which they did great justice.

The fire was lighted, and Neb and Pencroft, on whom the functions of cooks naturally devolved, to the one in his quality of Negro, to the other in that of sailor, quickly prepared some broiled agouti, to which they did great justice.

There will be times, increasingly frequent, when she is physically unable to effect her own, ahem, necessary functions.

And that brought on another row, as the forester lashed out again with his enhanced PK function and Aiken fought back with his coercive power, trying to make Raimo ram his own forefinger down his throat.

After they checked his pulse to make certain that he was still alive, Marks and Akers dragged him out of the storeroom and up the corridor to Module Nine, the laboratory which also functioned as the base infirmary.

Never happy unless he was making music andwiththe Beatles not functioning, probably extinct, Paul began recording tracks for a solo album, beginning when he and Linda returned from Scotland just before Christmas 1969.

Part of the foregoing argument has rested upon the fact, only too definitely, variously and frequently proved, that alcoholism in women prejudices the performance of their supreme functions.