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Definition of "specific" []

  • Explicitly set forth; definite. See Synonyms at explicit. (adjective)
  • Relating to, characterizing, or distinguishing a species. (adjective)
  • Special, distinctive, or unique: specific qualities and attributes. (adjective)
  • Intended for, applying to, or acting on a particular thing: a specific remedy for warts. (adjective)
  • Concerned particularly with the subject specified. Often used in combination: "age-specific voting patterns” ( A. Dianne Schmidley). (adjective)

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.

Use "specific" in a sentence
  • "The arbiter appears to the undersigned to have viewed the rivers St. John and Restigouche as possessing both a specific and a generic character; that considered _alone_ they were _specific_ ', and the designation in the treaty of "rivers falling into the Atlantic" was inapplicable to them; that considered _In connection with other rivers_ they were _generic_ and were embraced in the terms of the treaty, but that as their connection with other rivers would bring them within a principle which, according to the views taken by him of other parts of the question, was equally realized by both lines, it would be hazardous to allow them any weight in deciding the disputed boundary."
  • "Your referral to instant runoff voting in specific is particularly odd, given that IRV is neither a Democratic nor a Republican issue (with both McCain and Dean strongly supporting it), and is limited in popularity to conservatives or liberals."
  • "The term specific gas production (Gp, measured in m³ gas/m³ Vd x day) supplements the above expression by defining the digester's biogas output. pH/volatile acids"