Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Divided or dividing into two parts or classifications.
- adjective Characterized by dichotomy.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Pertaining to or consisting of a pair or pairs; divided into two, or having a dual arrangement or order.
- Specifically— In botany, regularly dividing by pairs from below upward; two-forked: as, a dichotomous stem. A good example of a dichotomous stem is furnished by the mistletoe. See cut under
dichotomy . - In zoology:
- Branching by pairs; biramous; bifurcate; forked: as, the dichotomous division of a deer's antlers; the dichotomous foot of a crustacean.
- Distichous; bifarious; two-rowed or two-ranked; parted in the middle: as, the dichotomous hairs of a squirrel's tail.
- In classification, binary; dual; arranged in two ranks or series; opposed by pairs, as a set of characters, or a number of objects characterized by dichotomization. Also
dichotomic .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Regularly dividing by pairs from bottom to top.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective
Dividing orbranching intotwo pieces.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective divided or dividing into two sharply distinguished parts or classifications
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Squidward, doomed and dichotomous, is the permanent foil.
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Squidward, doomed and dichotomous, is the permanent foil.
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Squidward, doomed and dichotomous, is the permanent foil.
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The word "dichotomous" suggests disparate elements or opposing forces-as in male/female, the variety of ways tension is expressed in relationships, and the seemingly disparate disciplines of dance and technology that may not be so far apart after all.
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So, we need to move away from this kind of dichotomous, absolutist language and towards something that just reflects where people are in this country.
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Olbermann went as far as to describe Obama's parsing as "dichotomous", an adjective of the noun dichotomy of which I was previously unaware.
The Osterley Times 2009
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Their reasoning was based on the difference between what they call "dichotomous" diseases, like cancer, and diseases that exist on a continuum, like diabetes.
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One type of closed-ended question is a "dichotomous" question Page 9
Recently Uploaded Slideshows ianted439 2009
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'dichotomous' or 'bifurcate' method, and exemplified by the so-called
The English Utilitarians, Volume I. Leslie Stephen 1868
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"dichotomous" business, I would, but I can't, so I won't.
Citizendium, the Citizens' Compendium - Recent changes [en] 2009
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