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   section

   /ˈsɛkʃn/

   noun

   • 1. any of the more or less distinct parts into which something is or may be divided or from which it is made up: "I unscrewed every section of copper pipe, from the roof tank to the hot-water cylinder" Similar segmentpartcomponentdivisionpieceportionlengthelementmoduleunitconstituentbitslicefractionfragment
   • ▪ a relatively distinct part of a book, newspaper, statute, or other document: "the " Similar subdivisionpartchaptersubsectiondivisionportioncomponentbitpassageclauseactsceneepisodeinstalment
   • ▪ a measure of land, equal to one square mile. North American
   • ▪ a particular district of a town: North American "a residential section of the capital" Similar districtquarterpartsectorzoneprecinctboroughlocalityneighbourhoodsideprovinceterritorydivisionregionareabelttractlocaleinformal:hood
   • ▪ a building plot. New Zealand
   • 2. a distinct group within a larger body of people or things: "the non-parliamentary section of the party" Similar departmentpartdivisionbranchsectorwingcompartment
   • ▪ a group of players of a family of instruments within an orchestra: "the brass section"
   • ▪ a specified military unit: "a GHQ Signals Section"
   • ▪ a subdivision of an army platoon.
   • ▪ a secondary taxonomic category, especially a subgenus.
   • 3. the cutting of a solid by or along a plane.
   • ▪ the shape resulting from cutting a solid along a plane: "nails of round section"
   • ▪ a representation of the internal structure of something as if it has been cut through vertically or horizontally: "a section of face, showing the position of the organs of speech"
   • ▪ a separation by cutting.
   • ▪ a thin slice of plant or animal tissue prepared for microscopic examination.

   verb

   • 1. divide into sections: "she began to section the grapefruit"
   • ▪ separate an area from a larger one: "parts of the curved balcony had been sectioned off with wrought-iron grilles"
   • ▪ cut (animal or plant tissue) into thin slices for microscopic examination: "the specimens were embedded and serially sectioned"
   • ▪ divide by cutting: "it is common veterinary practice to section the nerves to the hoof of a limping horse"
   • 2. commit (someone) compulsorily to a psychiatric hospital in accordance with a section of a mental health act: British "should she be sectioned and forced back into hospital?"

   Word Origin late Middle English (as a noun): from French section or Latin sectio(n-), from secare ‘to cut’. The verb dates from the early 19th century.

   Derivatives

   • 1. sectionable adjective

   Scrabble Points: 9

   • S

     1

   • E

     1

   • C

     3

   • T

     1

   • I

     1

   • O

     1

   • N

     1

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