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Dictionary


pat•tern



Pronunciation: (pat'urn; Brit. pat'n), [key]
—n.
1. a decorative design, as for wallpaper, china, or textile fabrics, etc.
2. decoration or ornament having such a design.
3. a natural or chance marking, configuration, or design: patterns of frost on the window.
4. a distinctive style, model, or form: a new pattern of army helmet.
5. a combination of qualities, acts, tendencies, etc., forming a consistent or characteristic arrangement: the behavior patterns of teenagers.
6. an original or model considered for or deserving of imitation: Our constitution has been a pattern for those of many new republics.
7. anything fashioned or designed to serve as a model or guide for something to be made: a paper pattern for a dress.
8. a sufficient quantity of material for making a garment.
9. the path of flight established for an aircraft approaching an airport at which it is to land.
10. a diagram of lines transmitted occasionally by a television station to aid in adjusting receiving sets; test pattern.
11. Metall. a model or form, usually of wood or metal, used for giving the shape of the interior of a mold.
12. Numis. a coin, either the redesign of an existing piece or the model for a new one, submitted for authorization as a regular issue.
13. an example, instance, sample, or specimen.
14. Gunnery, Aerial Bombing.
a. the distribution of strikes around a target at which artillery rounds have been fired or on which bombs have been dropped.
b. a diagram showing such distribution.

—v.t.
1. to make or fashion after or according to a pattern.
2. to cover or mark with a pattern.
3. Chiefly Brit. Dial.
a. to imitate.
b. to attempt to match or duplicate.

—v.i.
to make or fall into a pattern.

Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.

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