universalu‧ni‧ver‧sal /ˌjuːnəˈvɜːsəl◂ $ -ɜːr-/ ●●○ W3 adjective 
free universal health care These stories have universal appeal. a topic of universal interest a democracy based on universal suffrage (=when every adult has the right to vote)2true or suitable in every situation: a universal truth—universality /ˌjuːnəvɜːˈsæləti $ -ɜːr-/ noun [uncountable]
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- a universal language
- a universal truth
- It is not easy to write a song that has universal appeal.
- Popular culture seems to have universal appeal.
- Support for the government is by no means universal.
- There does not appear to be universal agreement on the future of the British monarchy.
- How can there be a universal, species-specific human nature when every human being is unique?
- Most important for our day is the almost universal support among economists for free trade and opposition to tariffs and import quotas.
- Now there is to be the universal democracy of the microwave.
- Of necessity this will be specific to a company in terms of its markets and capabilities and a comprehensive universal list is not practical.
- Pizza also serves as a universal and very elastic unit of measure.
- The President is elected for a five-year term by universal adult suffrage.
- Will the West cling to the idea of universal worth while selfishly consuming Arab oil wealth and closing its borders to Arabs?
Longman Language Activatorfeelings that everyone has, something that everyone does etc
done, felt, used etc by all the people in a group or all the people in the world: · There does not appear to be universal agreement on the future of the British monarchy.· Support for the government is by no means universal.have universal appeal (=be liked by everyone): · It is not easy to write a song that has universal appeal.
if a group of people or a decision they make is unanimous , all the members of the group agree about something: · Many party members agreed with their leader, but they certainly weren't unanimous.somebody is unanimous that: · Medical opinion is unanimous that John's condition is unlikely to improve.somebody is unanimous in (doing) something: · The meeting was unanimous in adopting the proposals.unanimous decision/agreement/verdict etc (=a decision that everyone in a group agrees on): · The committee made a unanimous decision to expel the three students.· The resolution was affirmed by a unanimous vote.
collective decisions, responsibilities, guilt etc, are shared or made by every member of a group: · Unless we act now to protect the environment, we shall have failed in our collective responsibility to future generations.· The present crisis is a result of the collective failure of the political parties to put forward a plausible economic programme.
something that is common to everyone is something that everyone shares: · Luckily we all had a common language, English, which meant we could communicate with each other.· Monkeys and apes are so similar that it is reasonable to say they have a common ancestor.common to: · These problems are common to all modern societies.
if people share a feeling, belief etc, they all have that feeling, belief etc: · None of us are close friends but we all share an interest in sport.· One thing united all three men - they shared a burning hatred of the political regime under which they lived.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY These stories have universal appeal. a topic of universal interest a democracy based on universal suffrage (=when every adult has the right to vote) a universal truthCOLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
1involving everyone in the world or in a particular group: These stories have universal appeal. a topic of universal interest a democracy based on universal suffrage (=when every adult has the right to vote) a universal truth (=from everyone)· His appointment has been met with almost universal approval.
(=subjects that affect people of all races and cultures)· Readers everywhere can relate to the universal themes in his work.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB· Colour-printing will soon become almost universal.· There are, however, images that are almost universal, such as the cross or the spiral.· The perception of women's inability to take on managerial positions are almost universal.· Most important for our day is the almost universal support among economists for free trade and opposition to tariffs and import quotas.· A large brain relative to body size is an almost universal foetal characteristic of vertebrates, and certainly of mammals.· This is mostly due to the almost universal lowering of expectations among diehard fans and casual observers.· This provoked an almost universal howl of outrage in Britain.· One obvious example is the almost universal ban against committing adultery with another man s wife.
· But if women learn their social orientation, it may not be as universal or as unchanging as these female-associated methods suggest.
· Those seeking more universal generalizations may use different methods from those that seek more contextually specific levels of explanation.· Real love is calmer and less intense and more universal.· Everywhere one notices attempts to introduce greater purity, greater justice, greater perfection and a more universal explanation of things.· Any grubby social thoughts the film might have evoked can be swiftly rejected in favour of a more universal muse.
NOUN· The heads of government also promised to foster equality for women, and universal access to education.· Comprehensive health insurance and universal access to health care has the potential to facilitate this process and improve surveillance.· The deregulatory approach under Gats also threatens universal access to public services, workers' rights, environmental regulations and public health.· In the debate about the I-way architecture, one issue dominates all others: universal access.· In particular, it may be considered desirable to have universal access to basic utilities and essential services.· Others insist that highway operators must provide universal access at reasonable cost.· Almost universal access has become possible, even when the person being contacted does not want it to occur.
· All elections are by universal adult suffrage.· There is a unicameral Legislative Assembly of 70 seats, 62 of which are elected by universal adult suffrage for five years.· The unicameral legislature, the National Assembly, is also elected for a five-year term by universal adult suffrage.· There is a Federal Assembly of 42 members, elected by universal adult suffrage for a five-year term.· Legislative authority is now vested in a unicameral National Congress, with 100 members elected for five years by universal adult suffrage.· Executive authority: the President; legislative authority: the National Assembly; both elected by universal adult suffrage.· Both houses are elected by universal adult suffrage and for terms of no longer than four years.
· Many old principles no longer command universal agreement and there are well-supported demands for new principles.· Of course there is no universal agreement on these issues.· The phrase is a familiar one but this does not necessarily imply that there is universal agreement over its meaning.· We note in passing that initially there was no universal agreement about what exactly constituted a group.
· Within the field of electronic media, the film medium has the most universal appeal and impact.· Its archetypal shape and colour have universal appeal, evoking a sense of fun and childhood.
· These days a credit card has universal application.· While this rule depends upon the provisions of the federal and state constitutions, the reasoning has universal application.· In this respect the sections purport to be of universal application.· In consequence some authors suggest that the conventionally applied log-normal probability law is not suitable for universal applications in grain size analysis.
· Franciscan legend thus presented the faithful a generation later with Francis as the allegorical saviour of the universal Church.· Secondly the universal church remains the visible presence of our Lord in action.
· Gurder was right, universal education was not a good idea.· It believed in universal education and attempted to implement that ideal.· Some limited degree of universal education was another obvious step towards the strengthening of the State and the fostering of general well-being.· Especially in this great age of universal education.
· It is these types of health problems which are perceived as being an integral, inevitable and universal feature of old age.· None the less, some universal features stand out.· Some instruments do now have built-in reverberation effects, but this is a far from universal feature.
· This is not as horrifying a prospect as critics of universal health care suggest.· Even a relatively modest addition to the liberal framework, universal health coverage, remains elusive.· I believe that progressive legislation like universal health care is essential and would be good for individuals and good for the country.· When he first came into office, Clinton did have a few grander purposes in mind, particularly universal health care.
· Notes A gimbal is a kind of universal joint that allows free rotation within a range of angles.· In mechanical terms, the head is an elliptical spheroid with a single universal joint, the neck.
· It was an encyclopedic work, setting out the concept of a universal language as a comprehensive taxonomic structure.· Computer literacy is becoming the universal language of business.· This augurs well for the future and underlines the truth that music as a universal language is an important resource for ecumenism.· His other interests included alchemy, medical remedies, and universal language schemes.· Music in fact is a universal language of a non-verbal nature which is rich in expression.· Firstly, such systems will need to talk to each other in a flexible, universal language.· However, there is one big problem here, and that is that there is not a universal language for horses.· Film, especially Hollywood film, is the world's universal language.
· There was now a universal law of gravitation.· This kind of theft was a universal law, like the pull of gravity.· Fine, for instance, declares that there can be no universal laws for feminist psychology.· This is a universal law of vivisystems: higher level complexities can not be inferred by lower-level existences.
· Can we expect to find the fundamental and universal principles in development?· Beyond that, everything else is essentially a context-specific attempt to put those few universal principles into practice.
· They were private individuals or partnerships, paid by the state to provide a universal service free at the point of use.· Earlier this month, the Federal Communications Commission finally adopted the so-called universal service guidelines.· This reserved area, however, should be strictly limited to what is necessary to provide a universal service.· The universal service fund also should provide a lift to libraries that are trying to launch themselves into cyberspace.· The definition of a universal service and hence of reserved services has yet to be drawn up.
· The inductivist account requires the derivation of universal statements from singular statements by induction.· The reformulated principle is still a universal statement.· The falsity of universal statements can be deduced from suitable singular statements.
· Monarchy was as widely taken for granted at the end of the nineteenth century as is universal suffrage today.· The propertied class which called itself liberal was immediately opposed to universal suffrage and to the masses in general.· However, the government continued to resist demands for universal suffrage, preferring a power-sharing system.· It was also the year of the first presidential election held under universal suffrage.· Executive power is vested in the President, who is elected by universal suffrage for a five-year term.· The constitutional commission had also agreed that the country's President should be elected by direct universal suffrage.· Legislative authority is vested in a 50-member unicameral parliament, which is similarly elected by universal suffrage for a five-year term.· In the referendum the population of Western Samoa voted narrowly in favour of the introduction of universal suffrage.
· What Turing showed is that this is not a universal truth.· Awareness becomes heightened, and everyday domestic dramas unfold into staggering universal truths.· Yet we find it difficult to take these definitive events and state categorically that they are universal truths for women engineers.· A universal truth has to be digested and made part of our thinking and understanding.· He was about to learn a universal truth of professional journalism.
· For we are all, whatever our social position, essentially judged by the same universal values.
free universal health care These stories have universal appeal. a topic of universal interest a democracy based on universal suffrage (=when every adult has the right to vote)2true or suitable in every situation: a universal truth—universality /ˌjuːnəvɜːˈsæləti $ -ɜːr-/ noun [uncountable]