state — English Dictionary

state
Pronunciations (2)
  • /steɪt/
    Pronunciation notes
    • General-American
    • Received-Pronunciation
  • steɪt

Noun

  1. A condition; a set of circumstances applying at any given time.

    Usage
    • Countable
    • Uncountable
    Examples

    a state of being

    a state of emergency

    More examples (2)

    Relate what Latium was, her ancient Kings : / Declare the paſt, and preſent State of things, / When firſt the Trojan Fleet Auſonia ſought ; / And how the Rivals lov’d, and how they fought.

    I corralled the judge, and we started off across the fields, in no very mild state of fear of that gentleman's wife, whose vigilance was seldom relaxed.

  2. A condition; a set of circumstances applying at any given time. A complete description of a system, consisting of parameters that determine all properties of the system.

    Usage
    • Countable
    • Uncountable
    Examples
    More examples (1)

    States in which the energy has definite values are called stationary states of a system; they are described by wave functions Ψₙ which are the eigenfunctions of the Hamiltonian operator, i.e. which satisfy the equation ĤΨₙ = EₙΨₙ, where Eₙ are the eigenvalues of the energy.

  3. A condition; a set of circumstances applying at any given time. A mess; disorder; a bad condition or set of circumstances.

    Usage
    • Colloquial
    • Countable
    • singular
    • Uncountable
    Examples

    absolute state

    in a state

    More examples (3)

    in a bit of a state

    Who the fuck undressed me? Try tracing back. It's now Sunday. Yesterday was Saturday. The semi-final at Hampden. I had got myself into some fucking state before and after the match.

    An absolute state of a visit: what the Trump and Windsor snapshots tell us [title]

  4. A condition; a set of circumstances applying at any given time. The stable condition of a processor during a particular clock cycle.

    Usage
    • Countable
    • Uncountable
    Examples

    In the fetch state, the address of the next instruction is placed on the address bus.

  5. A condition; a set of circumstances applying at any given time. The set of all parameters relevant to a computation.

    Usage
    • Countable
    • Uncountable
    Examples

    The state here includes a set containing all names seen so far.

  6. A condition; a set of circumstances applying at any given time. The values of all parameters at some point in a computation.

    Usage
    • Countable
    • Uncountable
    Examples

    A debugger can show the state of a program at any breakpoint.

  7. A condition; a set of circumstances applying at any given time. The physical property of matter as solid, liquid, gas or plasma.

    Usage
    • Countable
    • Uncountable
  8. A condition; a set of circumstances applying at any given time. Highest and stationary condition, as that of maturity between growth and decline, or as that of crisis between the increase and the abating of a disease; height; acme.

    Usage
    • Countable
    • Obsolete
    • Uncountable
  9. High social standing or circumstance. Pomp, ceremony, or dignity.

    Usage
    • Countable
    • Uncountable
    Examples

    in state

    The President's body will lie in state at the Capitol.

  10. High social standing or circumstance. Rank; condition; quality.

    Usage
    • Countable
    • Uncountable
    Examples

    And leſned by that ſmall, God I beſeech him, / Thy honor, ſtate, and ſeate, is due to me.

  11. High social standing or circumstance. Condition of prosperity or grandeur; wealthy or prosperous circumstances; social importance.

    Usage
    • Countable
    • Uncountable
    Examples

    Firſt, in princely behaviour and geſture, teaching him how he ſhould keep of a kind of ſtate, and yet, with a modeſt ſenſe of his misfortunes.

    Can this imperious lord forget to reign, / Quit all his ſtate, deſcend, and ſerve again ?

  12. High social standing or circumstance. A chair with a canopy above it, often standing on a dais; a seat of dignity; also, the canopy itself.

    Usage
    • Countable
    • Uncountable
    Examples
    More examples (2)

    […]and from the dore / Of that Plutonia Hall, inviſible / Aſcended his high Throne, which under ſtate / Of richeſt texture ſpred, at th’ upper end / Was plac’t in regal luſtre.

    He invented a way of coming into a Room backwards, which he ſaid ſhew’d more Humility, and leſs Affectation ; where other People ſtood, he ſat ; when he went to Court, he us’d to kick away the State, and ſit down by his Prince, Cheek by Choul[…]

  13. High social standing or circumstance. A great person, a dignitary; a lord or prince.

    Usage
    • Countable
    • Obsolete
    • Uncountable
    Examples

    We in the name of other Perſean ſtates, And commons of this mightie Monarchy, Preſent thee with the Emperiall Diadem.

    More examples (1)

    They who to States and Governours of the Commonwealth direct their Speech, High Court of Parlament, or wanting ſuch acceſſe in a private condition, write that which they foreſee may advance the publick good ; I ſuppoſe them as at the beginning of no meane endeavour, not a little alter’d and mov’d inwardly in their mindes[…]

  14. High social standing or circumstance. Estate, possession.

    Usage
    • Countable
    • Obsolete
    • Uncountable
    Examples
    More examples (1)

    Their parties great, meanes good, the ſeaſon fit, / Their practice cloſe, their faith ſuſpected not, / Their ſtates far off, and they of wary wit : / Who, with large promiſes, ſo wooe the Scot / To aide their Cauſe, as he conſents to it ; / And glad was to diſturne that furious ſtreame / Of warre, on vs, that elſe had ſwallowed them.

    Your ’State, my Lord, again is yours.

  15. A polity or community. A sovereign country or city state with a central government acting as its head and operator; national issues and affairs as opposed to local ones.

    Usage
    • Countable
    • Uncountable
    Examples

    Never do anything against conscience even if the state demands it.

    More examples (1)

    In the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, three of the Soviet Union's fifteen constituent republics, last year's most dangerous fantasies have been sanctioned by the government itself.

  16. A polity or community. A political division of a federation retaining a notable degree of autonomy, as in the United States, Mexico, Nigeria, or India.

    Usage
    • Countable
    • Uncountable
    Examples

    His alibi is that he was out of state the night of the murder.

    More examples (4)

    The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

    You do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be) that you will support the constitution of the United States, and the constitution of the state of Connecticut, so long as you continue a citizen thereof; and that you will faithfully discharge, according to law, the duties of the office of […] to the best of your abilities.

    As Australia considers whether to allow states greater latitude in the indirect tax field, it must ask what it will do when (not if) it finally decides that the federal government should enact a modern general sales tax.

    The Central Lowlands is often referred to as the heart of America — and with good reason: If we look at the names of the eight states with populations of 10 million or more, this region has three of them, Illinois, Ohio, and Michigan, more than any one of the other five.

  17. A polity or community. A form of government other than a monarchy.

    Usage
    • Countable
    • Obsolete
    • Uncountable
    Examples

    Well monarchies may own religion’s name, / But ſtates are atheiſts in their very frame.

  18. A polity or community. A society larger than a tribe. A society large enough to form a state in the sense of a government.

    Usage
    • Countable
    • Uncountable
  19. An element of the range of the random variables that define a random process.

    Usage
    • Countable
    • Uncountable
  20. The lexical aspect (aktionsart) of verbs or predicates that do not change over time.

    Usage
    • Countable
    • Uncountable
    Antonyms
    Examples
    More examples (1)

    […]distinctions among states of affairs are reflected to a striking degree in distinctions among Aktionsart types. That is, situations are expressed by state verbs or predicates, events by achievement verbs or predicates, and actions by activity verbs or predicates.

    The most basic Aktionsart distinction is between states and occurrences.

Verb

  1. To declare to be a fact.

    Usage
    • Transitive
    Examples

    He stated that he was willing to help.

    More examples (4)

    Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers, of errand not wholly obvious to their fellows, yet of such sort as to call into query alike the nature of their errand and their own relations. It is easily earned repetition to state that Josephine St. Auban's was a presence not to be concealed.

    A provision of law may not be construed as requiring a new grant to be awarded to a specified non-Federal Government entity unless that provision of law (1) specifically refers to this subsection; specifically identifies the particular non-Federal Government entity involved; and (3) specifically states that the award to that entity is required by such provision of law in contravention of the policy set forth in subsection (a).

    The species-preserving purposivity of higher organisms is no greater than that of the lowest forms of life, and Jakob von Uexküll was entirely justified in stating that all living organisms are equally well adapted to their environments.

    When Tony Greig, in a meaningful and provocative interview, asked Sarfaraz background of betting and match-fixing, the Pakistan "superbat" categorically stated that it should start with Asif Iqbal and Gavaskar who, according to him, were the "original fixers"..

  2. To make known.

    Usage
    • Transitive
    Examples

    State your intentions.

Adjective

  1. Stately.

    Usage
    • Obsolete
    Examples
    More examples (1)

    The ſhepheardes ſwayne you cannot well ken, / But it be by his pride, from other men: / They looken bigge as Bulles, that bene bate, / And bearen the cragge ſo ſtiffe and ſo ſtate, / As Cocke on his dunghill, crowing cranck.

Noun

  1. the territory occupied by one of the constituent administrative districts of a nation

    Synonyms
    Examples

    his state is in the deep south

  2. the way something is with respect to its main attributes

    Broader terms
    Examples

    the current state of knowledge

    his state of health

    More examples (1)

    in a weak financial state

  3. the group of people comprising the government of a sovereign state

    Examples

    the state has lowered its income tax

  4. a politically organized body of people under a single government

    Examples

    the state has elected a new president

    African nations

    More examples (3)

    students who had come to the nation's capitol

    the country's largest manufacturer

    an industrialized land

  5. (chemistry) the three traditional states of matter are solids (fixed shape and volume) and liquids (fixed volume and shaped by the container) and gases (filling the container)

    Broader terms
    Examples

    the solid state of water is called ice

  6. a state of depression or agitation

    Examples

    he was in such a state you just couldn't reason with him

  7. the territory occupied by a nation

    Synonyms
    Examples

    he returned to the land of his birth

    he visited several European countries

Verb

  1. express in words

    Synonyms
    Examples

    He said that he wanted to marry her

    tell me what is bothering you

    More examples (2)

    state your opinion

    state your name

  2. put before

    Examples

    I submit to you that the accused is guilty

  3. indicate through a symbol, formula, etc.

    Synonyms
    Broader terms
    Examples

    Can you express this distance in kilometers?

Word forms
statesstatesstatingstatedstatedmore statemost state

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