/ English Dictionary

BRANCH

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any projection that is thought to resemble a human arm

Example:

a branch of the sewer

Synonyms:

arm; branch; limb

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("branch" is a kind of...):

projection (any structure that branches out from a central support)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A division of some larger or more complex organization

Example:

the Germanic branch of Indo-European languages

Synonyms:

arm; branch; subdivision

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("branch" is a kind of...):

division (an administrative unit in government or business)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "branch"):

local post office; post office (a local branch where postal services are available)

executive branch; Executive Office of the President (the branch of the United States government that is responsible for carrying out the laws)

legislative branch (the branch of the United States government that has the power of legislating)

judicial branch (the branch of the United States government responsible for the administration of justice)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A stream or river connected to a larger one

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Hypernyms ("branch" is a kind of...):

stream; watercourse (a natural body of running water flowing on or under the earth)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "branch"):

billabong (a branch of a river made by water flowing from the main stream only when the water level is high)

distributary (a branch of a river that flows away from the main stream and does not rejoin it)

affluent; confluent; feeder; tributary (a branch that flows into the main stream)

Derivation:

branch (divide into two or more branches so as to form a fork)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A natural consequence of development

Synonyms:

branch; offset; offshoot; outgrowth

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Hypernyms ("branch" is a kind of...):

consequence; effect; event; issue; outcome; result; upshot (a phenomenon that follows and is caused by some previous phenomenon)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A division of a stem, or secondary stem arising from the main stem of a plant

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Hypernyms ("branch" is a kind of...):

stalk; stem (a slender or elongated structure that supports a plant or fungus or a plant part or plant organ)

Meronyms (parts of "branch"):

bark (tough protective covering of the woody stems and roots of trees and other woody plants)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "branch"):

branchlet; sprig; twig (a small branch or division of a branch (especially a terminal division); usually applied to branches of the current or preceding year)

limb; tree branch (any of the main branches arising from the trunk or a bough of a tree)

deadwood (a branch or a part of a tree that is dead)

Derivation:

branchy (having many branches)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A part of a forked or branching shape

Example:

he broke off one of the branches

Synonyms:

branch; leg; ramification

Classified under:

Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes

Hypernyms ("branch" is a kind of...):

subfigure (a figure that is a part of another figure)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "branch"):

bifurcation (a bifurcating branch (one or both of them))

brachium ((biology) a branching or armlike part of an animal)

crotch; fork (the region of the angle formed by the junction of two branches)

Holonyms ("branch" is a part of...):

forking; furcation (the place where something divides into branches)

Derivation:

branch (divide into two or more branches so as to form a fork)

branchy (having many branches)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Divide into two or more branches so as to form a fork

Example:

The road forks

Synonyms:

branch; fork; furcate; ramify; separate

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "branch" is one way to...):

diverge (move or draw apart)

Verb group:

branch; ramify (grow and send out branches or branch-like structures)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "branch"):

arborise; arborize (branch out like trees)

twig (branch out in a twiglike manner)

bifurcate (divide into two branches)

trifurcate (divide into three)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Also:

branch out (vary in order to spread risk or to expand)

Derivation:

branch (a stream or river connected to a larger one)

branch (a part of a forked or branching shape)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Grow and send out branches or branch-like structures

Example:

these plants ramify early and get to be very large

Synonyms:

branch; ramify

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "branch" is one way to...):

grow (become larger, greater, or bigger; expand or gain)

Verb group:

branch; fork; furcate; ramify; separate (divide into two or more branches so as to form a fork)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Credits

 Context examples: 

An anterior ethmoidal artery branch that supplies the meningeal tissues in the anterior fossa of the cranium.

(Anterior Meningeal Artery, NCI Thesaurus)

A branch of the middle cerebral artery that supplies blood to the anterior part of the temporal lobe.

(Anterior Temporal Artery, NCI Thesaurus)

An arterial branch arising from the anterior tibial artery.

(Anterior Tibial Artery Branch, NCI Thesaurus)

A left coronary artery branch that descends on the anterior portion of the heart through the anterior interventricular groove.

(Anterior Descending Coronary Artery, NCI Thesaurus)

Terminal branch of the facial artery with distribution to the side of the nose.

(Angular Artery, NCI Thesaurus)

There are two branches of the complement system, the classical pathway that is initiated by antibody-antigen complexes on a cell and the alternative pathway that is antibody independent.

(Alternative Complement Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

A branch of the maxillary artery that is found in the gingiva, premolars, and molars.

(Alveolar Artery, NCI Thesaurus)

This allele, which encodes alpha-methylacyl-CoA racemase protein, is involved in the racemization of 2-methyl-branched fatty acid CoA esters.

(AMACR wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

The branch of chemistry that deals with the quantitative and qualitative identification of substances.

(Analytical Chemistry, NCI Thesaurus)

Mammals inhale oxygen-rich air that funnels into smaller branches, ending in tiny sacs where oxygen enters and carbon dioxide leaves the bloodstream.

(Following the lizard lung labyrinth, National Science Foundation)

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