combination

a. the set of numbers that opens a combination lock

b. the mechanism of this type of lock

2. Brit a motorcycle with a sidecar attached

3. Maths

a. an arrangement of the numbers, terms, etc., of a set into specified groups without regard to order in the group

b. a group formed in this way. The number of combinations of n objects taken r at a time is n!/[(n -- r)!r!]. Symbol: _nC_r

4. the chemical reaction of two or more compounds, usually to form one other compound

5. Chess a tactical manoeuvre involving a sequence of moves and more than one piece

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

combination

[‚käm·bə′nā·shən]

(mathematics)

A selection of one or more of the elements of a given set without regard to order.

combination

(mathematics)

A set containing a certain number of objects selected from another set.

The number of combinations of r objects chosen from a set of n is

n C r = n! / ((n-r)! r!)

where "n C r" is normally with n and r as subscripts or as n above r in parentheses.

See also permutation.

combination

(reduction)

In the theory of combinators, a combination denotes an expression in which function application is the only operation.

This article is provided by FOLDOC - Free Online Dictionary of Computing (foldoc.org)

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Combination

(in Russian, kombinatsiia). (1) An interdependent union, connection, or arrangement of several objects or component parts (elements) of a single object.

(2) A set of procedures for carrying out a complex plan, such as a chess combination.

(3) A contrivance, trick, or subterfuge; a deliberate maneuver to achieve a mercenary or other improper goal (commercial combination; political combination).

(4) An item of women’s underclothing (a slip).

Combination

in mathematics. Combinations of n elements taken k at a time are sets that contain k of the n elements and that differ from each other in at least one element. The number of combinations of n elements, k at a time, is denoted by , C (n, k), or and is equal to n!/k!(n - k)! (seeCOMBINATORICS).

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The phoneme /r/ has a plentiful number of allophones--both free and combinatory allophones--within and across language boundaries (the term "combinatory allophones" refers to the different realizations of a phoneme depending on the phonetic environment of the phoneme).

Transcribing Scandinavian song texts into IPA: challenges when aiming for a higher degree of uniformity in the IPA transcription of the three Scandinavian languages: Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish

I owe to our great polygraph, and to several years of tenaciousreading, my passion for language; I admire his secret and sereneoriginality, his infinite combinatory ability, his humor, his talent forinserting everyday expressions, seemingly at odds with literarylanguage, into a masterful exposition on Gongora, Virgil, orMallarme.

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The Pinocchiesque Fantasy that dominated the next thirty years included texts informed by postmodern combinatory zeal, in this case expressing itself in the tendency to "self-consciously deconstruct and reassemble" Collodi's classic text while at the same engaging with contemporary political and social themes (188).

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Alla luce di questa riflessione, l'opera di Calvino si configura come esemplare: "What is proposed here, instead, is Calvino's intentional appropriation of the fragmentary, discontinuous, and combinatory nature of reality.

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Chapters 4 through 9 expand into "the broader topic of creativity." McStay takes readers through advertising's symbolic nature and its combinatory aspects before exploring biosociative approaches to advertising, and ends by considering advertising as affect and sensation.

McStay, Andrew. Creativity and Advertising: Affect, Events, and Process

We concluded that the 3-Benzylchroman derivative Brazilin (1) showed in vitro synergy of bactericidal activities against MRSA when combined with Aminoglycosides, which might be beneficial for combinatory therapy of MRSA infection.

Synergy of aminoglycoside antibiotics by 3-Benzylchroman derivatives from the Chinese drug Caesalpinia sappan against clinical methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)

The article suggests the methodology based on the combinatory use of the sum-of-locations method and the system of authors' investment-important indexes as the tooling for revealing the interregional differences and evaluation of the extent of heterogeneity of the processes of investment development.

Evaluation of investment activity of rural territory of the South of Russia