mode
    n 1: how something is done or how it happens; "her dignified
         manner"; "his rapid manner of talking"; "their nomadic mode
         of existence"; "in the characteristic New York style"; "a
         lonely way of life"; "in an abrasive fashion" [syn:
         manner, mode, style, way, fashion]
    2: a particular functioning condition or arrangement; "switched
       from keyboard to voice mode"
    3: a classification of propositions on the basis of whether they
       claim necessity or possibility or impossibility [syn:
       modality, mode]
    4: verb inflections that express how the action or state is
       conceived by the speaker [syn: mood, mode, modality]
    5: any of various fixed orders of the various diatonic notes
       within an octave [syn: mode, musical mode]
    6: the most frequent value of a random variable [syn: mode,
       modal value]

Mode \Mode\ (m[=o]d), n. [L. modus a measure, due or proper
   measure, bound, manner, form; akin to E. mete: cf. F. mode.
   See Mete, and cf. Commodious, Mood in grammar,
   Modus.]
   1. Manner of doing or being; method; form; fashion; custom;
      way; style; as, the mode of speaking; the mode of
      dressing.
      [1913 Webster]

            The duty of itself being resolved on, the mode of
            doing it may easily be found.         --Jer. Taylor.
      [1913 Webster]

            A table richly spread in regal mode.  --Milton.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Prevailing popular custom; fashion, especially in the
      phrase the mode.
      [1913 Webster]

            The easy, apathetic graces of a man of the mode.
                                                  --Macaulay.
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   3. Variety; gradation; degree. --Pope.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. (Metaph.) Any combination of qualities or relations,
      considered apart from the substance to which they belong,
      and treated as entities; more generally, condition, or
      state of being; manner or form of arrangement or
      manifestation; form, as opposed to matter.
      [1913 Webster]

            Modes I call such complex ideas, which, however
            compounded, contain not in them the supposition of
            subsisting by themselves, but are considered as
            dependencies on, or affections of, substances.
                                                  --Locke.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. (Logic) The form in which the proposition connects the
      predicate and subject, whether by simple, contingent, or
      necessary assertion; the form of the syllogism, as
      determined by the quantity and quality of the constituent
      proposition; mood.
      [1913 Webster]

   6. (Gram.) Same as Mood.
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   7. (Mus.) The scale as affected by the various positions in
      it of the minor intervals; as, the Dorian mode, the Ionic
      mode, etc., of ancient Greek music.
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   Note: In modern music, only the major and the minor mode, of
         whatever key, are recognized.
         [1913 Webster]

   8. A kind of silk. See Alamode, n.
      [1913 Webster]

   9. (Gram.) the value of the variable in a frequency
      distribution or probability distribution, at which the
      probability or frequency has a maximum. The maximum may be
      local or global. Distributions with only one such maximum
      are called unimodal; with two maxima, bimodal, and
      with more than two, multimodal.
      [PJC]

   Syn: Method; manner. See Method.
        [1913 Webster]
        [1913 Webster]

mode
 n.

    [common] A general state, usually used with an adjective describing the
    state. Use of the word ?mode? rather than ?state? implies that the state is
    extended over time, and probably also that some activity characteristic of
    that state is being carried out. ?No time to hack; I'm in thesis mode.? In
    its jargon sense, ?mode? is most often attributed to people, though it is
    sometimes applied to programs and inanimate objects. In particular, see 
    hack mode, day mode, night mode, demo mode, fireworks mode, and 
    yoyo mode; also talk mode.

    One also often hears the verbs enable and disable used in connection with
    jargon modes. Thus, for example, a sillier way of saying ?I'm going to
    crash? is ?I'm going to enable crash mode now?. One might also hear a
    request to ?disable flame mode, please?.

    In a usage much closer to techspeak, a mode is a special state that certain
    user interfaces must pass into in order to perform certain functions. For
    example, in order to insert characters into a document in the Unix editor
    vi, one must type the ?i? key, which invokes the ?Insert? command. The
    effect of this command is to put vi into ?insert mode?, in which typing the
    ?i? key has a quite different effect (to wit, it inserts an ?i? into the
    document). One must then hit another special key, ?ESC?, in order to leave
    ?insert mode?. Nowadays, modeful interfaces are generally considered 
    losing but survive in quite a few widely used tools built in less
    enlightened times.

Mode

    An object-oriented language.

   ["The Programming Language Mode: Language Definition and User
   Guide", J. Vihavainen, C-1987-50, U Helsinki, 1987].

   [Jargon File]

   (1994-10-21)

mode

   1. A general state, usually used with an adjective describing
   the state.  Use of the word "mode" rather than "state" implies
   that the state is extended over time, and probably also that
   some activity characteristic of that state is being carried
   out. "No time to hack; I'm in thesis mode."

   In its jargon sense, "mode" is most often attributed to
   people, though it is sometimes applied to programs and
   inanimate objects.  In particular, see hack mode, day
   mode, night mode, demo mode, fireworks mode, and yoyo
   mode; also chat.

   2. More technically, a mode is a special state that certain
   user interfaces must pass into in order to perform certain
   functions.  For example, in order to insert characters into a
   document in the Unix editor "vi", one must type the "i" key,
   which invokes the "Insert" command.  The effect of this
   command is to put vi into "insert mode", in which typing the
   "i" key has a quite different effect (to wit, it inserts an
   "i" into the document).  One must then hit another special
   key, "ESC", in order to leave "insert mode".  Nowadays,
   modeful interfaces are generally considered losing but
   survive in quite a few widely used tools built in less
   enlightened times.

   [Jargon File]

   3.  video mode.

   (1994-12-22)

MODEL. A machine made on a small scale to show the manner in which it is to 
be worked or employed. 
     2. The Act of Congress of July 4, 1836, section 6, requires an inventor 
who is desirous to take out a patent for his invention, to furnish a model 
of his invention, in all cases which admit of representation by model, of a 
convenient size to exhibit advantageously its several parts.