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ambiguity definition

am·bi·gu·ity (am′bə gyo̵̅o̅′ə tē)

noun

  1. the quality or state of being ambiguous
  2. pl. ambiguities -·ties an ambiguous word, statement, etc.

Etymology: ME ambiguite < L ambiguitas

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Alternate definitions:

law ambiguity definition - legal

ambiguity Synonyms

ambiguity

n.

doubtfulness, incertitude, vagueness, double meaning; see uncertainty 2.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

ambiguity Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • resolve: Where the words are not clear, other factors can be taken into account tp resolve the ambiguity.

Preposition: in

  • wording: Ambiguity in the precise wording of advertisements and in the use of sound effects must be avoided.

Adjective modifier

  • lexical: Non-linear dynamics in the resolution of lexical ambiguity: A parallel distributed processing account.

Modifies a noun

  • tag: In fact, if ambiguity tags are eliminated, the overall error rate rises to almost 2 per cent.

Noun used with modifier

  • nucleotide: GCG uses the letter codes for amino acid codes and nucleotide ambiguity proposed by IUPAC-IUB.
ambiguity usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

ambiguity quotes

SevenTypes of Ambiguity.

-Empson, Sir William

ambiguity quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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MLA Style

"ambiguity." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 4 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/ambiguity>

APA Style

ambiguity. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 4th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/ambiguity

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