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n. 1. a. The totality of the natural world, often excluding humans: "Technology, of course, lies at the heart of man's relationship with the environment" (Mark Hertsgaard). b. A subset of the natural world; an ecosystem: the coastal environment. c. The combination of external physical conditions that affect and influence the growth, development, behavior, and survival of organisms: "Conditions in a lion's environment ... can drive it to hunt people" (Philip Caputo). d. The complex of social and cultural conditions affecting the nature of an individual person or community. 2. The general set of conditions or circumstances: a terrible environment for doing business. 3. Computers a. The entire set of conditions under which one operates a computer, as it relates to the hardware, operating platform, or operating system. b. An area of a computer's memory used by the operating system and some programs to store certain variables to which they need frequent access. |
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