Crossword clues for indefinite
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Indefinite \In*def"i*nite\, a. [L. indefinitus. See In- not, and Definite.]
-
Not definite; not limited, defined, or specified; not explicit; not determined or fixed upon; not precise; uncertain; vague; confused; obscure; as, an indefinite time, plan, etc.
It were to be wished that . . . men would leave off that indefinite way of vouching, ``the chymists say this,'' or ``the chymists affirm that.''
--Boyle.The time of this last is left indefinite.
--Dryden. -
Having no determined or certain limits; large and unmeasured, though not infinite; unlimited; as, indefinite space; the indefinite extension of a straight line.
Though it is not infinite, it may be indefinite; though it is not boundless in itself, it may be so to human comprehension.
--Spectator. -
Boundless; infinite. [R.]
Indefinite and omnipresent God, Inhabiting eternity.
--W. Thompson (1745). -
(Bot.) Too numerous or variable to make a particular enumeration important; -- said of the parts of a flower, and the like. Also, indeterminate.
Indefinite article (Gram.), the word a or an, used with nouns to denote any one of a common or general class.
Indefinite inflorescence. (Bot.) See Indeterminate inflorescence, under Indeterminate.
Indefinite proposition (Logic), a statement whose subject is a common term, with nothing to indicate distribution or nondistribution; as, Man is mortal.
Indefinite term (Logic), a negative term; as, the not-good.
Syn: Inexplicit; vague; uncertain; unsettled; indeterminate; loose; equivocal; inexact; approximate.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Wiktionary
a. 1 Without limit; forever, or until further notice; not definite. 2 vague or unclear. 3 undecided or uncertain. 4 (context mathematics English) An integral without specified limits.
WordNet
adj. vague or not clearly defined or stated; "must you be so indefinite?"; "amorphous blots of color having vague and indefinite edges"; "he would not answer so indefinite a proposal" [ant: definite]
not decided or not known; "were indefinite about their plans"; "plans are indefinite"
Wikipedia
Indefinite may refer to:
- In mathematics:
- When talking about indefinite forms in multilinear algebra, see definite bilinear form.
- "Indefinite integral" refers to the antiderivative.
- "Indefinite" is sometimes used to describe an unknowable quantity, with meaning similar to "unlimited" or "undetermined".
- In grammar, see indefinite article and indefinite pronoun.
- In Wikipedia:
- Indefinite blocks, blocks that don't have a fixed expiration date and need to be resolved by discussion
- Indefinitely protected pages, pages that are permanently (semi) protected
Usage examples of "indefinite".
The Indeterminate in the Intellectual Realm, where there is truer being, might almost be called merely an Image of indefiniteness: in this lower Sphere where there is less Being, where there is a refusal of the Authentic, and an adoption of the Image-Kind, indefiniteness is more authentically indefinite.
The senior prefect gave the wagon a cursory inspection and then threatened to delay them for an indefinite period until Kaspar bribed him.
This time I made him a bow, which was returned, and on leaving the office I returned to the Chevalier Osorio, who said, with a smile, that I had caught the superintendent, as I had taken an indefinite period, which left me quite at my ease.
I had hoped, in obtaining my answers from the oracle, that she would be deterred by the prospect of death, and I reckoned on the natural love of life making her defer the operation for an indefinite period.
On July 20, 2001, novice writer Vanessa Leggett was found in contempt of court by a federal district court judge and sent to prison for an indefinite term for refusing to surrender a portion of her interviews for an upcoming book about the 1997 murder of Texas socialite Doris Angleton, the wife of millionaire bookie Robert Angleton.
If the answers to such questions as the above are not indefinite, they must be purely memoriter, merely reproducing the words of the text without comprehension of any real meaning.
Indefinite periods of celibacy notwithstanding, he was all man ruggedness incarnate.
There I lay, trying to stretch a frame bent and mangled, for an indefinite period, and straining my eyes to catch a glimpse of some ray of light which would give a hint as to my position.
They cannot approve of a rule which leaves to the discretion of the vivisector the right of keeping alive for an indefinite period, a suffering creature.
But we all know how indefinite, how inconclusive, how meagre in practical results archidiaconal conferences are apt to be!
Either Hitler must invade and conquer England, or he must face an indefinite prolongation of the war, with all its incalculable hazards and complications.
As it gradually became apparent to the Kremlin that Britain was capable of maintaining a prolonged and indefinite war, during which anything might happen about the United States and also in Japan, Stalin became more conscious of his danger and more earnest to gain time.
The coastline was an indefinite recursion of islands and straits and inlets.
Capital, then, is remunerated, not only once or twice, but an indefinite number of times!
But as in landlessness alone resides the highest truth, shoreless, indefinite as God--so better is it to perish in that howling infinite, than be ingloriously dashed upon the lee, even if that were safety!