"factor" in the noun sense
1. factor
anything that contributes causally to a result
"a number of factors determined the outcome"
2. component, constituent, element, factor, ingredient
an abstract part of something
"jealousy was a component of his character"
"two constituents of a musical composition are melody and harmony"
"the grammatical elements of a sentence"
"a key factor in her success"
"humor: an effective ingredient of a speech"
3. divisor, factor
one of two or more integers that can be exactly divided into another integer
"what are the 4 factors of 6?"
4. agent, factor, broker
a businessman who buys or sells for another in exchange for a commission
5. factor
any of the numbers (or symbols) that form a product when multiplied together
6. factor
an independent variable in statistics
7. gene, cistron, factor
genetics) a segment of DNA that is involved in producing a polypeptide chain it can include regions preceding and following the coding DNA as well as introns between the exons it is considered a unit of heredity
"genes were formerly called factors"
"factor" in the verb sense
1. factor, factor in, factor out
resolve into factors
"a quantum computer can factor the number 15"
2. factor
be a contributing factor
"make things factor into a company's profitability"
3. factor, factor in, factor out
consider as relevant when making a decision
"You must factor in the recent developments"
Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)
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