1Any of the more or less distinct parts into which something is or may be divided or from which it is made up.

1. 1.1 A relatively distinct part of a book, newspaper, statute, or other document.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • But Review remains a separate section and it's all the better for it.
   • Food Safety is separated into sections in the report.
   • The book's three sections cover ambiguity in three areas: news, measurement, and explanation.
   • Divided into five distinct sections, each portion emphasises different aspects of Shingon Buddhism.
   • And I don't separate sections of posts with rows of asterisks, either.
   • She had taken all reasonable steps to take and act on advice as required by section 14A.
   • Well, that must be right because those two sections apply in civil cases.
   • Now, Justice Sully assumed that section 11A applied, did he not?
   • A separate section is devoted to the various types of fishing nets used by fishermen communities in the south.
   • I mean, the odd thing is that Clinton devoted a large section of the book to his childhood.
   • The section titled Structural Integrity addresses the structural integrity of the computational approach.
   • You can click on separate sections for news and image searches - a fairly standard feature these days.
   • It is divided into six sections, with each section containing six chapters, for a total of 36 chapters.
   • Timetables of express and passenger trains of all the four railway zones have been provided in separate sections.
   • The book is divided into three main sections covering background, methods, and applications.
   • Perhaps you could include a small section devoted to explaining the 100 most common acronyms.
   • The profile information is presented individually town-by-town with a separate section devoted to our rural areas.
   • His report mentioned one section which dealt with the historical evolution of the village.
   • It includes a full section devoted to the years 1937-1945.
   • Like Stryk, he divided the book into sections and did not arrange the poems specifically by previous book titles.
   • But the last section entitled " Balzac the observer " has universal relevance.

   Synonyms

   subdivision, part, chapter, subsection, division, portion, component, bit, passage, clause, act, scene, episode, instalment
2. 1.2North American A measure of land, equal to one square mile.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • Here they talk about acres, but in West Texas we measure land in sections.
   • With the help of other concerned citizens, they eventually succeeded in gaining a permit to graze their flocks on 14 sections of Forest Service land.
3. 1.3North American A particular district of a town.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • They rented a home by the Tar River, right between the black and white sections of town.
   • When the vehicle passes through a Brazilian section of town, the text shifts to Portuguese.
   • We also learned that the Bohemian section of town was where young urbanites came to feel cool.
   • I decided to walk through the Islamic section of town to Cairo's infamous bazaar and check it out for myself.
   • In large cities, such as Kano or Katsina, Hausa live either in the old sections of town or in newer quarters built for civil servants.
   • In the intervening three months, yet another airplane crashed, this time into a residential section of New York City.

   Synonyms

   district, quarter, part, zone, precinct, borough, locality, neighbourhood, side

   district, quarter, part, sector, zone, precinct, borough, locality, neighbourhood, side

2A distinct group within a larger body of people or things.

1. 2.1 A group of players of a family of instruments within an orchestra.
   the brass section

   Example sentencesExamples

   • The luxurious tunes are kept taut and alive, while all sections of the orchestra are on virtuoso form.
   • The brass section of an orchestra typically consists of trumpets, horns, trombones, and tubas.
   • The brass quintet is a fun and whacky group made up of members of the Bournemouth Symphonic Orchestra brass section.
   • Schubert was not one to underwork his string sections and the orchestra, playing flat out for sustained periods, was most impressive.
   • The body language of the orchestral string section was a bit of a give away.
   • At that time, women in London could only play in the wind sections of the BBC Symphony and the English Chamber Orchestras.
   • It features dialogues between piano and individual orchestra sections.
   • A platform is rigged toward the back of the stage rising over the winds and brass sections for the vocalists.
   • Orchestral sections were moved from one position to another in a search for perfect sound relationships.
   • Gabel cues with care but without ostentation, he addresses sections of the orchestra and he stays with them.
   • Add probably the best rhythm section in town right now and it's a fabulous, stirring noise.
   • Add a rhythm section to your youthful band with our wood and skin Tambourine.
   • He often augmented the reed or brass sections ' ensemble choruses.
   • The only music to be heard was some of the brass section tuning up their instruments.
   • It would be idle to deny that all sections of British orchestras have become increasingly female over the past couple of decades.
   • My father believed there would be more openings for a violin player in an orchestra because the string section was bigger than any other.
   • The entire woodwind and brass sections were all off stage!
   • It is as if the string section of the orchestra suddenly decided to play its own music, disregarding everyone else.
   • Today we find women in brass, percussion and woodwind sections, as well as the safe-havens of strings and harpdom.
   • The cabaret was provided by the brass consort section of Shipston Town Band.
2. 2.2 A small class of students who are part of a larger course but are taught separately.
   graduate students lead discussion sections for professors' lecture courses

   Example sentencesExamples

   • I divided the class, each section to be led by one member of the faculty.
   • The average student in each section did not read much of the textbook.
   • Faculty members teaching multiple sections of one course had each section participate in the study.
   • Once I was taped teaching a section of an undergrad physics course at Berkeley.
   • Each section of the course accommodates between twelve and eighteen students.
3. 2.3in names A specified military unit.
   a camouflage section was added to the army

   Example sentencesExamples

   • It has tested each of you as an individual and, more importantly, as part of a war fighting infantry section.
   • In Bosnia, IO staff sections were formed in units below brigade.
   • Its military, working dog section consists of a single dog and it doesn't even belong to the Air Force.
   • It is our tank sections and infantry squads that invariably make contact with hostile forces, not companies or battalions.
   • Basson is still working for South Africa in its military's medical section.
4. 2.4 A subdivision of an army platoon.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • Military and DA civilian leaders have responsibility for what their sections, units, or organizations do or fail to do.
   • Soldiers will be trained to deploy as individuals, sections or units.
   • A unit of action may vary from a nine-man infantry section through to a 3500-person brigade.
   • Due to the nature of current combat operations in Iraq, our primary mounted maneuver unit is the section.
   • This latter cavalry regiment had sent one section still farther forward into Persia.
5. 2.5Biology A secondary taxonomic category, especially a subgenus.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • Halda treated section Stenogyne as a subgenus of Gentiana.
   • At the subgeneric level, the classification of Valeriana in subgenera and sections is difficult.
   • Each species is classified under a sub-genus, and a section.
   • According to Navarro, these taxa belong to six sections.
   • Several genera that are at times segregated from Atriplex have been variously treated as subgenera or sections, or simply placed in synonymy with Atriplex.

3The cutting of a solid by or along a plane.

1. 3.1 The shape resulting from cutting a solid along a plane.
2. 3.2 A representation of the internal structure of something as if it has been cut through vertically or horizontally.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • This technique involves mentally dividing the image in the viewfinder up into a grid of three horizontal and vertical sections.
   • The vector field represents a vertical section through a vortex ring.
3. 3.3Surgery A separation by cutting.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • The mother had an elective cesarean section in order to ensure proper management of the airway during delivery.
   • Once considered unthinkable, vaginal delivery after a previous caesarean section remains a safe option for many women.
   • Obviously, if you have to deliver via Caesarian section it will take longer for you to get back on your bike.
   • On coronal sections, a mass measuring 4 cm in diameter was observed in the right frontal lobe white matter.
   • No staining in the retina or any other parts of the body was detected on sections.
4. 3.4Biology A thin slice of plant or animal tissue prepared for microscopic examination.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • At least three tissue sections from each of the 49 biopsy samples from the 15 patients considered were analyzed.
   • The animal from which the tissue sections are prepared is important.
   • Immunohistochemical studies were performed using formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sections of the cyst wall.
   • Sets of transverse, serial thin sections were prepared to document growth and increase in detail.
   • Serial transverse sections showed homogeneous pale red-brown parenchyma without discrete abnormality.

1Divide into sections.

1. 1.1section something off Separate an area from a larger one.
   parts of the curved balcony had been sectioned off with wrought-iron grilles

   Example sentencesExamples

   • You might also want to get some dust masks and plastic to section the room off from the rest of the house.
   • These areas have been sectioned off because they are unsafe!
   • Small areas are sectioned off where people are sleeping on mattresses on pallets.
   • Curtains separated the room into three, and one third was sectioned off and occupied.
   • Isis could see that each area was sectioned off into little green or brown squares according to the owner's preference.
   • All over the image the terrain has been sectioned off.
   • Some come with dividers that can section the crate off as the pup grows to its full size.
   • Part of the castle is sectioned off for re-pointing to be carried out.
   • Full capacity is at 800 but the hall can be sectioned off for 300.
   • The gymnasium had one of those huge movable walls which they would use to section it off into smaller areas for classes.
2. 1.2Biology Cut (animal or plant tissue) into thin slices for microscopic examination.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • The paraffin-embedded specimen was serially sectioned until the full cross-sectional area of the specimen was believed to be exposed.
   • Eight roots were sectioned longitudinally and another eight roots were sectioned transversely.
   • The specimen was serially sectioned and submitted entirely.
   • The cartilage was sectioned into 2-mm full-thickness slices.
   • Small specimens were sectioned in an epoxy resin matrix.
   • The brain of each rat was sectioned in the coronals plane into 2 mm thickness pieces using a plastic model of the rat brain.
3. 1.3Surgery Divide by cutting.
   it is common veterinary practice to section the nerves to the hoof of a limping horse

   Example sentencesExamples

   • If these foci are sectioned perfectly, diagnosis is not difficult because the parallel arrangement of the prongs is obvious.
   • Because of their predominantly vertical orientation, the basilar segmental bronchi of the right lower lobe are routinely sectioned transversely on CT.
   • At autopsy, the heart was longitudinally sectioned through the left atrium and left ventricle.
   • The vastus medialis muscle, which completely surrounds the patella in the pig, was sectioned to expose the articular capsule.
   • On sectioning the liver, diffuse tan miliary lesions surrounded by dark red hemorrhagic tissue were seen.

2British Commit (someone) compulsorily to a psychiatric hospital in accordance with a section of a mental health act.