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n. 1. An assemblage of persons or objects gathered or located together; an aggregation: a group of dinner guests; a group of buildings near the road. 2. A set of two or more figures that make up a unit or design, as in sculpture. 3. A number of individuals or things considered or classed together because of similarities: a small group of supporters across the country. 4. Linguistics A category of related languages that is less inclusive than a family. 5. a. A military unit consisting of two or more battalions and a headquarters. b. A unit of two or more squadrons in the US Air Force, smaller than a wing. 6. Chemistry a. Two or more atoms behaving or regarded as behaving as a single chemical unit. b. A column in the periodic table of the elements. 7. Geology A stratigraphic unit, especially a unit consisting of two or more formations deposited during a single geologic era. 8. Mathematics A set, together with a binary associative operation, such that the set is closed under the operation, the set contains an identity element for the operation, and each element of the set has an inverse element with respect to the operation. The integers form a group under the operation of ordinary addition. adj. Of, relating to, constituting, or being a member of a group: a group discussion; a group effort. v. grouped, group·ing, groups v.tr. To place or arrange in a group: grouped the children according to height. v.intr. To belong to or form a group: The soldiers began to group on the hillside. [French groupe, from Italian gruppo, probably of Germanic origin.] Usage Note: Group as a collective noun can be followed by a singular or plural verb. It takes a singular verb when the persons or things that make up the group are considered collectively: The dance group is ready for rehearsal. Group takes a plural verb when the persons or things that constitute it are considered individually: The group were divided in their sympathies. See Usage Note at collective noun. |
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