multiple
/ˈmʌltɪp(ə)l
/adjective
1Having or involving several parts, elements, or members: multiple occupancy a multiple pile-up...
- It is my misfortune to be living in a street in which there are several houses in multiple occupation.
- The function of the banner-draped shading elements is multiple.
- Friends, the multiple agency bill collection system in the city, has to be the most citizen-friendly outfit of the Government.
1.1Numerous and often varied: words with multiple meanings...
- The season's riches also offer a chance to see favorite actors tackling very different roles in multiple movies.
- Because children have different learning styles and multiple ways of knowing, they must be encouraged to find the form that best fits their individual styles.
- The financial sector is a much different story, with multiple levels of lending and intermediation dictating that analysis is at least as much art as science.
Synonyms
numerous, many, various, different, diverse, several, sundry, miscellaneous, manifold, multifarious, multitudinous, compound, collective
literary myriad, divers
1.2(Of a disease, injury, etc.) complex in its nature or effects; affecting several parts of the body: a multiple fracture of the femur...
- Heart failure is a complex syndrome that affects multiple organ systems and has a great impact on the lifestyle of patients.
- In 2002 our intensive care unit cared for 183 unconscious patients with multiple injuries and experienced this clinical dilemma every other day.
- A woman who was sitting in the front seat was taken to St James' Hospital suffering from multiple injuries.
noun
1A number that may be divided by another a certain number of times without a remainder: 15, 20, or any multiple of five...
- Any other number that leaves a remainder of 0 when divided by 7 must be a multiple of 7, so it can't be a prime.
- However, the overall value of these firms would be a multiple of this figure.
- Primitive Pythagorean triangles are a bit like prime numbers in that every integer is either prime or a multiple of a prime.
2 (also multiple shop or store) British A shop with branches in many places, especially one selling a specific type of product: the major food multiples...
- Recent trends in the food retail economy may mean that many small and large multiple stores are increasingly moving back into city centres and local sites closer to relatively deprived populations.
- In terms of volume and value, 85% of strawberries are sold through the multiples.
- He is also considering exporting to Britain and developing own label products for the British multiples.
Origin
Mid 17th century: from French, from late Latin multiplus, alteration of Latin multiplex (see multiplex).