defining

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

From the Greek philosopher Archimedes shouting “eureka” in his bathtub to the German psychologist Karl Bühler defining the concept of an “Aha!” moment two centuries later, sudden jolts of realization can hit rather quickly.

From Barron's • Jun. 9, 2026

“Neuromancer,” one of the defining cyberpunk novels, was published in 1988; that book imagines an interconnected, virtual reality world you can traverse by “jacking in.”

From Salon • Jun. 8, 2026

I knew from the jump that that is one of Natalie’s defining features, that she just cannot get out of her own way.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 8, 2026

In the 1920s, Schrödinger built on that idea by defining hue, saturation, and lightness within a Riemannian model of color perception, using a metric that describes how people perceive color differences.

From Science Daily • Jun. 7, 2026

At a defining moment in American history, slavery not only continued, it was granted the Constitution’s official blessing.

From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis