word
    n 1: a unit of language that native speakers can identify;
         "words are the blocks from which sentences are made"; "he
         hardly said ten words all morning"
    2: a brief statement; "he didn't say a word about it"
    3: information about recent and important events; "they awaited
       news of the outcome" [syn: news, intelligence, tidings,
       word]
    4: a verbal command for action; "when I give the word, charge!"
    5: an exchange of views on some topic; "we had a good
       discussion"; "we had a word or two about it" [syn:
       discussion, give-and-take, word]
    6: a promise; "he gave his word" [syn: parole, word, word
       of honor]
    7: a word is a string of bits stored in computer memory; "large
       computers use words up to 64 bits long"
    8: the divine word of God; the second person in the Trinity
       (incarnate in Jesus) [syn: Son, Word, Logos]
    9: a secret word or phrase known only to a restricted group; "he
       forgot the password" [syn: password, watchword, word,
       parole, countersign]
    10: the sacred writings of the Christian religions; "he went to
        carry the Word to the heathen" [syn: Bible, Christian
        Bible, Book, Good Book, Holy Scripture, Holy Writ,
        Scripture, Word of God, Word]
    v 1: put into words or an expression; "He formulated his
         concerns to the board of trustees" [syn: give voice,
         formulate, word, phrase, articulate]

Word \Word\, n. [AS. word; akin to OFries. & OS. word, D. woord,
   G. wort, Icel. or[eth], Sw. & Dan. ord, Goth. wa['u]rd,
   OPruss. wirds, Lith. vardas a name, L. verbum a word; or
   perhaps to Gr. "rh`twr an orator. Cf. Verb.]
   [1913 Webster]
   1. The spoken sign of a conception or an idea; an articulate
      or vocal sound, or a combination of articulate and vocal
      sounds, uttered by the human voice, and by custom
      expressing an idea or ideas; a single component part of
      human speech or language; a constituent part of a
      sentence; a term; a vocable. "A glutton of words." --Piers
      Plowman.
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            You cram these words into mine ears, against
            The stomach of my sense.              --Shak.
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            Amongst men who confound their ideas with words,
            there must be endless disputes.       --Locke.
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   2. Hence, the written or printed character, or combination of
      characters, expressing such a term; as, the words on a
      page.
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   3. pl. Talk; discourse; speech; language.
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            Why should calamity be full of words? --Shak.
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            Be thy words severe;
            Sharp as he merits, but the sword forbear. --Dryden.
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   4. Account; tidings; message; communication; information; --
      used only in the singular.
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            I pray you . . . bring me word thither
            How the world goes.                   --Shak.
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   5. Signal; order; command; direction.
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            Give the word through.                --Shak.
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   6. Language considered as implying the faith or authority of
      the person who utters it; statement; affirmation;
      declaration; promise.
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            Obey thy parents; keep thy word justly. --Shak.
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            I know you brave, and take you at your word.
                                                  --Dryden.
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            I desire not the reader should take my word.
                                                  --Dryden.
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   7. pl. Verbal contention; dispute.
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            Some words there grew 'twixt Somerset and me.
                                                  --Shak.
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   8. A brief remark or observation; an expression; a phrase,
      clause, or short sentence.
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            All the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this;
            Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. --Gal. v.
                                                  14.
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            She said; but at the happy word "he lives,"
            My father stooped, re-fathered, o'er my wound.
                                                  --Tennyson.
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            There is only one other point on which I offer a
            word of remark.                       --Dickens.
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   By word of mouth, orally; by actual speaking. --Boyle.

   Compound word. See under Compound, a.

   Good word, commendation; favorable account. "And gave the
      harmless fellow a good word." --Pope.

   In a word, briefly; to sum up.

   In word, in declaration; in profession. "Let us not love in
      word, . . . but in deed and in truth." --1 John iii. 8.

   Nuns of the Word Incarnate (R. C. Ch.), an order of nuns
      founded in France in 1625, and approved in 1638. The
      order, which also exists in the United States, was
      instituted for the purpose of doing honor to the "Mystery
      of the Incarnation of the Son of God."

   The word, or The Word. (Theol.)
      (a) The gospel message; esp., the Scriptures, as a
          revelation of God. "Bold to speak the word without
          fear." --Phil. i. 14.
      (b) The second person in the Trinity before his
          manifestation in time by the incarnation; among those
          who reject a Trinity of persons, some one or all of
          the divine attributes personified. --John i. 1.

   To eat one's words, to retract what has been said.

   To have the words for, to speak for; to act as spokesman.
      [Obs.] "Our host hadde the wordes for us all." --Chaucer.

   Word blindness (Physiol.), inability to understand printed
      or written words or symbols, although the person affected
      may be able to see quite well, speak fluently, and write
      correctly. --Landois & Stirling.

   Word deafness (Physiol.), inability to understand spoken
      words, though the person affected may hear them and other
      sounds, and hence is not deaf.

   Word dumbness (Physiol.), inability to express ideas in
      verbal language, though the power of speech is unimpaired.
      

   Word for word, in the exact words; verbatim; literally;
      exactly; as, to repeat anything word for word.

   Word painting, the act of describing an object fully and
      vividly by words only, so as to present it clearly to the
      mind, as if in a picture.

   Word picture, an accurate and vivid description, which
      presents an object clearly to the mind, as if in a
      picture.

   Word square, a series of words so arranged that they can be
      read vertically and horizontally with like results.
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   Note:
         H E A R T
         E M B E R
         A B U S E
         R E S I N
         T R E N T
         (A word square)

   Syn: See Term.
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Word \Word\, v. i.
   To use words, as in discussion; to argue; to dispute. [R.]
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Word \Word\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Worded; p. pr. & vb. n.
   Wording.]
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   1. To express in words; to phrase.
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            The apology for the king is the same, but worded
            with greater deference to that great prince.
                                                  --Addison.
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   2. To ply with words; also, to cause to be by the use of a
      word or words. [Obs.] --Howell.
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   3. To flatter with words; to cajole. [Obs.] --Shak.
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   To word it, to bandy words; to dispute. [Obs.] "To word it
      with a shrew." --L'Estrange.
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Microsoft Word
MS Word
Word

    A popular word processor, part of the
   Microsoft Office suite.  The original Word (versions 1.0 to
   4.?/5.0?) was originally text-based (non-GUI) and ran
   under MS-DOS.  Then Microsoft released Word for Windows
   1.0 and 2.0.  Later they produced new versions for each OS,
   both numbered 6.0.

   <http://microsoft.com/catalog/products/word/>.

   [Features?]

   (1997-02-11)

word

    A fundamental unit of storage in a computer.  The
   size of a word in a particular computer architecture is one of
   its chief distinguishing characteristics.

   The size of a word is usually the same as the width of the
   computer's data bus so it is possible to read or write a
   word in a single operation.  An instruction is usually one or
   more words long and a word can be used to hold a whole number
   of characters.  These days, this nearly always means a whole
   number of bytes (eight bits), most often 32 or 64 bits.  In
   the past when six bit character sets were used, a word might
   be a multiple of six bits, e.g. 24 bits (four characters) in
   the ICL 1900 series.

   (1994-11-11)

WORD, construction. One or more syllables which when united convey an idea a 
single part of speech. 
     2. Words are to be understood in a proper or figurative sense, and they 
are used both ways in law. They are also used in a technical sense. It is a 
general rule that contracts and wills shall be construed as the parties 
understood them; every person, however, is presumed to understand the force 
of the words be uses, and therefore technical words must be taken according 
to their legal import, even in wills, unless the testator manifests a clear 
intention to the contrary. 1 Bro. C. C. 33; 3 Bro. C. C. 234; 5 Ves. 401 8 
Ves. 306. 
     3. Every one is required to use words in the sense they are generally 
understood, for, as speech has been given to man to be a sign of his 
thoughts, for the purpose of communicating them to others, he is bound in 
treating with them, to use such words or signs in the sense sanctioned by 
usage, that is, in the sense in which they themselves understand them, or 
else he deceives them. Heinnec. Praelect. in Puffendorff, lib. 1, cap. 17, 
Sec. 2 Heinnec. de Jure Nat. lib. 1, Sec. 197; Wolff, lust. Jur. Nat. Sec. 
7981. 
     4. Formerly, indeed, in cases of slander, the defamatory words received 
the mildest interpretation of which they were susceptible, and some 
ludicrous decisions were the consequence. It was gravely decided, that to 
say of a merchant, "he is a base broken rascal, has broken twice, and I will 
make him break a third time," that no action could be maintained, because it 
might be intended that he had a hernia: ne poet dar porter action, car poet 
estre intend de burstness de belly. Latch, 104. But now they are understood 
in their usual signification. Comb. 37; Ham. N. P. 282. Vide Bouv. Inst. 
Index, h.t.; Construction; Interpretation.