option

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun The act of choosing; choice.
• noun The power or freedom to choose.
• noun The right, usually obtained for a fee, to buy or sell an asset within a specified time at a set price.
• noun A contract or financial instrument granting such a right.
• noun The right to make a movie adaptation of a literary work or play.
• noun Baseball The right of a major-league team to transfer a player to a minor-league team while being able to recall the player within a specified period.
• noun Something chosen or available as a choice. synonym: choice.
• noun An item or feature that may be chosen to replace or enhance standard equipment, as in a car.
• noun Football An offensive play in which a back, usually the quarterback, decides during the play whether to run with the ball, throw a pass, or make a lateral, depending on the actions of the defense.
• transitive verb To acquire or grant an option on.
• transitive verb Baseball To transfer (a major-league player) to a minor-league club on option.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun Choice; wish; preference; election.
• noun The power or liberty of choosing; the right or power of choice; the opportunity of electing or selecting an alternative or one of several lines of conduct; the power of deciding on a course of action: as, that is not left in my option; it is at your option to take it or leave it.
• noun In Eng. canon law, the right, now obsolete, which an archbishop formerly had, on consecrating a bishop, of selecting a benefice in the bishop's diocese for one of his own chaplains.
• noun On stock and other exchanges, a privilege, secured by the payment of a certain premium or consideration, either of calling for the delivery, or
• noun of making delivery, of a certain specified amount of some particular stock or kind of produce, at a specified price, and within specified limits of time.
• noun A wishing; a wish.
• noun Synonyms Option, Choice, Preference, Election. Option is the right of choice, the freedom to choose between two or more: as, “there is no option,”
• noun Choice is primarily the act of choosing, but, by extension, may be the same as option: as, he gave him the choice. Preference is primarily the state of mind determining the choice, and secondarily the act of choosing. Election emphasizes the leaving of some while choosing others. Choice and preference may apply to that which is chosen; the others not.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun The power of choosing; the right of choice or election; an alternative.
• noun The exercise of the power of choice; choice.
• noun obsolete A wishing; a wish.
• noun (Ch. of Eng.) A right formerly belonging to an archbishop to select any one dignity or benefice in the gift of a suffragan bishop consecrated or confirmed by him, for bestowal by himself when next vacant; -- annulled by Parliament in 1845.
• noun (Stock Exchange) A stipulated privilege, given to a party in a time contract, of demanding its fulfillment on any day within a specified limit; also, the contract giving that privelege.
• noun an option allowed to one who contracts to buy stocks at a certain future date and at a certain price, to demand the delivery of the stock (giving one day's notice) at any previous time at the market price.
• noun an option allowed to one who contracts to deliver stock art a certain price on a certain future date, to deliver it (giving one day's notice) at any previous time at the market price. Such options are privileges for which a consideration is paid.
• noun See under Local.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun One of the choices which can be made.
• noun The freedom or right to choose.
• noun finance A contract giving the holder the right to buy or sell an asset at a set strike price; can apply to financial market transactions, or to ordinary transactions for tangible assets such as a residence or automobile.
• noun graphical user interface A button on a screen used to select an action (often "menu option")
• verb To purchase an option on something.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun the right to buy or sell property at an agreed price; the right is purchased and if it is not exercised by a stated date the money is forfeited
• noun one of a number of things from which only one can be chosen
• noun the act of choosing or selecting