define

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define (something) as (something)

To describe, designate, or label something as something. Oh, Molly's not coming to the parade because she defines these kind of events as chaotic and overwhelming.
See also: define

defining moment

1. A point in time at which some essential trait or aspect of someone's or something's character or nature is made apparent. Having to confront my boss was a defining moment for me—it was when I realized that I was so much stronger and more capable than I had been trained to believe. This will prove to be a defining moment in the political party's identity. Either they uphold their core ideologies, or they embrace the more extreme views that have been gaining mainstream popularity.
2. A point in time at which the future of someone or something is defined or decided. The release of their incredibly popular MyPhone was a defining moment for the company, turning them almost overnight into a major corporate juggernaut. I had always gotten good grades in school, but receiving the special award for my research project became a defining moment in my academic career.
See also: define, moment
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

define something as something

to label something as being something. I define that kind of behavior as just plain rude! We have to define that comment as careless and unthinking.
See also: define
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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References in periodicals archive ?
Connection matrices and the definability of graph parameters.
Finiteness conditions for graph algebras over tropical semirings
The procedure for deciding weak Presburger definability proceeds by induction on the dimension of the subsets.
Deciding whether the ordering is necessary in a Presburger formula
Second order and inductive definability on finite structures.
Existential Second-Order Logic Over Strings
"The product architecture, support for integration to legacy systems, ease-of-use, definability, scalability, and Web support were important factors in our assessment of potential partners."
Proactive Maintenance System Ensures Steel-Plant Maintenance Is Done At The Right Time
4.2 Definability and Availability: The Cases of C and ML
Hierarchical Modularity
Schlesinger (Eds.), Definitions and definability: Philosophical perspectives (pp.
The argument from definition revisited: race and definition in the Progressive era
Philosophers of language refer to these as "precisifying definitions." See Roy Sorensen, Vagueness and the Desiderata for Definition, in DEFINITIONS AND DEFINABILITY: PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES 71, 71-72 (James H.
Law, language, and lenity
t is well-known that second-order definability of properties on finite structures is closely connected to computability within the Polynomial Hierarchy (PH) [Stockmeyer 1977].
Disjunctive Datalog
Aspect defines the geometrical character of an event, stating its definability with regard to line and point rather than its position in an absolute time scale or in time as broken up by the moving present of the speaker....
Adam Smith's rational choice linguistics
Given the definability of "an action" using "intentionally," and given the account of actions' individuation that Moore and I both subscribe to, it is a consequence of thesis (7) that each action is an event of a person's trying to do something.
Action and aberration
Notice, however, that there are limits of definability on shemath's functions.
The Reality of Numbers: A Physicalist's Philosophy of Mathematics
Rooted in nineteenth-century physiognomics and criminology, this development in scientific discourse can be seen as an empiricist appropriation of personality for the reinstatement of character's definability without its moral connotations.
Character and modernism: reading Woolf writing Woolf
Indeed, the all-night bus, like this play and this woman, is of such elemental facility and definability that, seen in a new light, undergoing some visual transformation, it provokes interpretation and at the same time leaves us to wonder.
Harold Pinter's "The Black and White": mimesis and vision
To further complicate this definability problem, seafood quality lies in the eye of the beholder.
Seafood quality: issues for consumer researchers
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