performance Hear it!

performance Definition

per·form·ance (pər fôr′məns)

noun

  1. the act of performing; execution, accomplishment, fulfillment, etc.
  2. operation or functioning, usually with regard to effectiveness, as of a machine
  3. something done or performed; deed or feat
    1. a formal exhibition or presentation before an audience, as a play, musical program, etc.; show
    2. one's part in this

Etymology: LME parfourmaunce < MFr

performance Synonyms

performance

n.

  1. The fulfilling of a function

    completion, fulfillment, attainment, doing, achievement, accomplishment, execution, carrying out, administration, enforcement, consummation, realization, fruition.

    Antonyms failure*, unfulfillment, frustration.

  2. A public presentation

    production, appearance, rehearsal, exhibition, offering, representation, pageant, burlesque, spectacle, review, revue, opera, masque, play, drama, dance recital, concert, exhibit, display, special*; see also act 4, drama 1, show 1.

performance Law Definition

n

  1. The successful fulfillment of a contractual obligation.
  2. . May be a promise of future payment in exchange for a contractual obligation’s being done.
part performance
Partial fulfillment of obligations under a contract.
performance clause
A distinct section or provision of a legal document or piece of legislation.
specific performance
The requirement of performance of obligations as stated in the terms of an agreement, according to the exact requirements, on theory that compensation in damages would be in- adequate to give recipient of the performance the “benefit of the bargain.”  Generally required in situations of unique services or goods. 
performance Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • improve: She explains how sports science support can help to improve athletic performance... Q: In simple terms, what is sports science?
  • monitor: The Council's Executive Members monitor the performance of the Environmental Health Unit against set standards.
  • enhance: Using extents will help us reduce the amount of disk space required to track free blocks, and will even enhance performance.
  • assess: The technical supplement provides guidance on setting targets, monitoring and assessing performance.
  • deliver: The Local Authority side of the bargain is to deliver enhanced performance in the form of " Key Outcomes " .
  • affect: Skype 2.0 allows users to conference call up to ten people simultaneously without affecting the performance of other applications.

Adjective modifier

  • improved: That's why our improved service performance to applicants is important.
  • poor: A poor network performance will not allow you to gain the full benefit of your ICT development.
  • live: First watch the complete routine in a live performance from the home of street theater, Covent Garden in London.
  • outstanding: The result is a system of extreme elegance and sophistication not to mention outstanding musical performance.
  • overall: Hence the overall heat transfer performance of both types of material is expected to be similar.
  • environmental: Chain reaction Companies in Nottinghamshire are benefiting from an initiative which helps them to promote better environmental performance to their suppliers.

Modifies a noun

  • indicator: Gives advice on how to use the Scottish school library performance indicators for self-evaluation.
  • measurement: Describe what is meant by performance measurement and explain why it is important in operations improvement.
  • improvement: A number of performance improvements were put in place during March.
  • management: The Best Value Performance Plan is also an important aspect of the Council's new performance management arrangements.
  • target: The purpose of the PSA is to achieve enhanced performance targets than would otherwise be the case.
  • rating: For 2003/04, we achieved the highest performance rating of three stars from the Healthcare Commission.

Noun used with modifier

  • solo: The solo performance is a demonstration of your skills to date and your confidence as a performer.
  • concert: The Orchestra rehearses weekly, leading to a concert performance at the end of each semester.
performance Quotes

Any performance is discussable from the standpoint of what it attains or what it misses.Comprehensiveness can be discussed as superficiality, intensiveness as stricture, tolerance as uncertaintyöand the poor pedestrian abilities of a fish are clearly explainable in terms of his excellence as a swimmer. A way of seeing is also a way of not seeing.

—Burke, Kenneth

Oh that thou hadst like others been all words, And no performance.

—Massinger, Philip

   Bullfighting is the onlyart in which the artist is in danger of death and in which the degree of brilliance in the performance is left to the fighter's honor.

—Hemingway, Ernest Millar

If frequent teabreaks and other manifestations of disguised leisure are regarded as goodsöand economics suggests that they be so regardedötheir inclusion in any index of output per capita might go some way to enhance Britain's comparative performance.

—Mishan, E J

   There is no more offensive act of theatrical rudeness than coming late to a performance.

—Zolotow, Maurice

His moral character†was full of promise, but of no performance.

—Dickens, CharlesJohn Huffam

The services of a menial servant, taking him as an example of unproductive labour,'generally perish in the very instant of their performance'öand forthwith into this galley, along with the menial servant, goes the sovereign, accompanied by all the army, the navy, and the civil service, followed by churchmen, lawyers, buffoons and opera dancers. All theseöand it is a hard sayingörender services which perish in the very instant of their performance. 368

—Gray, Alexander

A jazz performance centers upon the process of creation. The final objective is not only the finished product, but the path and process taken towards it.

—Liebman, David

No one will get at my verses who insists upon viewing them as a literary performance.

—Whitman,Walt(er)

   The basic difference between classical music and jazz is that in the former music is always greater than its performanceöwhereas the way jazz is performed is always more important than what is being played.

—Previn, Andre¤   (George)

Afew weeksago Ihad a revelation and told my secretary that I could give him a synthesis of forty-six years of living with economic policy. It is: 'Economic policy is random with respect to the performance of the American economy, but, thank God, there isn't much of it.'

—Stein, Herbert

The life of every man is an endlessly repeated performance of the life of man.

—Muir, Edwin

I have never been able to decide whether, in mountain exploration, it is the prospect of tackling an unsolved problem, or the performance of the task itself, or the retrospective enjoyment of successful effort, which affords the greatest amount of pleasure.

—Shipton, Eric Earle

The real accomplishment of modern science and technology consists in taking ordinary men, informing them narrowlyand deeply and then, through appropriate organization, arranging to have their knowledge combined with that of other specialized but equally ordinary men. This dispenses with the need for genius.Theresulting performance, though lessinspiring, is far more predictable.

—Galbraith,John Kenneth

No major institution in the US has so poor a record of performance over so long a period as the Federal Reserve, yet so high a public reputation.

—Friedman, Milton

The pretension is nothing; the performance everything. A good apple is better than an insipid peach.

—Hunt, (James Henry) Leigh