Definition of "factor" []

• One that actively contributes to an accomplishment, result, or process: "Surprise is the greatest factor in war” ( Tom Clancy). See Synonyms at element. (noun)
• One who acts for someone else; an agent. (noun)
• A person or firm that accepts accounts receivable as security for short-term loans. (noun)
• Mathematics One of two or more quantities that divides a given quantity without a remainder. For example, 2 and 3 are factors of 6; a and b are factors of ab. (noun)
• A quantity by which a stated quantity is multiplied or divided, so as to indicate an increase or decrease in a measurement: The rate increased by a factor of ten. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Another factor that can help in the selection of the right tree is its “cooling factor”."
• "As we said over and over again during the Democratic primary, gender is a factor but not * the only factor* in choosing a candidate to support."
• "As history reveals, all systemic failures of society and markets are a result of what I term factor imbalance – i.e., an imbalance of social, political, and marketplace power between the major economic factors, capital and labor."