peripheral Hear it!

peripheral definition

pe·riph·eral (pə rif′ə rəl)

adjective

  1. of, belonging to, or forming a periphery
    1. lying at the outside or away from the central part; outer; external
    2. Anat. of, at, or near the surface of the body; specif., designating or of that part of a nervous system that branches out from a central nervous system
  3. only slightly connected with what is essential or important; merely incidental

noun

a piece of equipment that can be used with a computer to increase its functional range or efficiency, as a printer, scanner, disk, etc.

Related Forms:

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

Alternate definitions:

medical peripheral definition - medical

telecom peripheral definition - telecom

peripheral Synonyms

peripheral

modif.

external, outer, surface; see outside.


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.

peripheral Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • connect: USB Type A ( Computer ) Universal Serial Bus ( USB ) is the most popular way of connecting peripherals to your computer.

Adjective modifier

  • external: My system has external peripherals like SDRAM, Flash memory etc. I have to boot my linux OS from Flash memory.

Modifies a noun

  • neuropathy: You may not be aware of any symptoms of peripheral neuropathy.

Modifying Another Word

  • somewhat: The training and education needs and aspirations of these people are seen as somewhat peripheral to the education agenda.

Noun used with modifier

  • PC: The market trend is toward USB as a common interface for PC peripherals.

Used with adjective complement

  • seem: The process through which scientists determine and deal with error may at first seem peripheral to science.
peripheral 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.

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MLA Style

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

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/peripheral>

APA Style

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

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/peripheral

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