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n. 1. a. A listing of the order of events and other pertinent information for a public presentation. b. The presentation itself: a program of piano pieces. 2. A scheduled radio or television show. 3. An ordered list of events to take place or procedures to be followed; a schedule: a program of physical therapy for a convalescent. 4. A system of services, opportunities, or projects, usually designed to meet a social need: "Working parents rely on the center's after-school latchkey program" (New York Times). 5. a. A course of academic study; a curriculum. b. A plan or system of academic and related or ancillary activities: a work-study program. c. A plan or system of nonacademic extracurricular activities: the football program. 6. A set of coded instructions that enables a machine, especially a computer, to perform a desired sequence of operations. 7. An instruction sequence in programmed instruction. 8. a. All or part of the genetic code of a cell or organism. b. A characteristic sequence of developmental or behavioral events in a cell or organism, often considered to result from the expression of genes. c. A stimulus or training sequence that causes an organism to exhibit a behavior, as by conditioning. tr.v. pro·grammed, pro·gram·ming, pro·grams or pro·gramed or pro·gram·ing Idiom: 1. To include or schedule in a program: program a new musical composition. 2. To design a program for; schedule the activities of. 3. To provide (a machine) with a set of coded working instructions. 4. To stimulate or train to perform automatically in a specified way: consumers who have been programmed to buy brand names. 5. To prepare an instructional sequence for (material to be taught) in programmed instruction. 6. a. To provide (a cell or organism, for example) with a genetic program: cells that are programmed to produce insulin. b. To cause (an effect or action) by means of a genetic program; determine genetically: "The basic housekeeping duties that a human and a yeast cell must perform are the same and are programmed by recognizably similar genes inherited from a common, single-celled ancestor" (Nicholas Wade). get with the program To follow or conform to a set of guidelines or expectations. [Late Latin programma, public notice, from Greek programma, programmat-, from prographein, to write publicly : pro-, forth; see PRO-2 + graphein, to write; see gerbh- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] pro·gram′ma·bili·ty n. program′ma·ble adj. |
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