formation

Noun
  1. An arrangement of people or things acting as a unit (synset 108443418)
    "a defensive formation"; "a formation of planes"
    is a type of: arrangement - an orderly grouping (of things or persons) considered as a unit; the result of arranging
    subtypes:
    • flight - a formation of aircraft in flight
    • military formation - a formation of troops
    • backfield - the offensive football players who line up behind the linemen
    • secondary - the defensive football players who line up behind the linemen
    • line - a formation of people or things one behind another
    • line - a formation of people or things one beside another
    • center - the middle of a military or naval formation
    • flank, wing - the side of military or naval formation
    • head - the front of a military formation or procession
    • rear - the back of a military formation or procession
  2. The act of fabricating something in a particular shape (synset 100927021)
    is a type of: fabrication, manufacture, manufacturing - the act of making something (a product) from raw materials
    subtypes:
    • filing - the act of using a file (as in shaping or smoothing an object)
    • forging - shaping metal by heating and hammering
    • metalwork, metalworking - the activity of making things out of metal in a skillful manner
    • granulation - the act of forming something into granules or grains
    • grooving, rifling - the cutting of spiral grooves on the inside of the barrel of a firearm
    • turning - the activity of shaping something on a lathe
    same as: shaping
  3. The act of forming or establishing something (synset 100237945)
    "the constitution of a PTA group last year"; "it was the establishment of his reputation"; "he still remembers the organization of the club"
    is a type of: beginning, commencement, start - the act of starting something
    subtypes:
    same as: constitution, establishment, organisation, organization
  4. (geology) the geological features of the earth (synset 109310874)
    referred to in: geology - a science that deals with the history of the earth as recorded in rocks
    is a type of: object, physical object - a tangible and visible entity; an entity that can cast a shadow
    subtypes:
    • aquifer - underground bed or layer yielding ground water for wells and springs etc
    • beach - an area of sand sloping down to the water of a sea or lake
    • cave - a geological formation consisting of an underground enclosure with access from the surface of the ground or from the sea
    • cliff, drop, drop-off - a steep high face of rock
    • delta - a low triangular area of alluvial deposits where a river divides before entering a larger body of water
    • diapir - a domed rock formation where a core of rock has moved upward and pierced through the more brittle overlying strata
    • folium - a thin layer or stratum of (especially metamorphic) rock
    • foreshore - the part of the seashore between the highwater mark and the low-water mark
    • ice mass - a large mass of ice
    • lakefront - land bordering a lake
    • massif - a block of the earth's crust bounded by faults and shifted to form peaks of a mountain range
    • monocline - a geological formation in which all strata are inclined in the same direction
    • mouth - the point where a stream issues into a larger body of water
    • depression, natural depression - a sunken or depressed geological formation
    • elevation, natural elevation - a raised or elevated geological formation
    • oceanfront - land bordering an ocean
    • chain, chain of mountains, mountain chain, mountain range, range, range of mountains - a series of hills or mountains
    • relict - geological feature that is a remnant of a pre-existing formation after other parts have disappeared
    • ridge, ridgeline - a long narrow range of hills
    • ridge - a long narrow natural elevation on the floor of the ocean
    • shore - the land along the edge of a body of water
    • incline, side, slope - an elevated geological formation
    • fountain, natural spring, outflow, outpouring, spring - a natural flow of ground water
    • scree, talus - a sloping mass of loose rocks at the base of a cliff
    • mineral vein, vein - a layer of ore between layers of rock
    • crater, volcanic crater - a bowl-shaped geological formation at the top of a volcano
    • wall - a vertical (or almost vertical) smooth rock face (as of a cave or mountain)
    • groundwater level, water level, water table - underground surface below which the ground is wholly saturated with water
    specific instances: pillars of hercules - the two promontories at the eastern end of the Strait of Gibraltar; according to legend they were formed by Hercules
    same as: geological formation
  5. A particular spatial arrangement (synset 103389963)
    is a type of: arrangement, placement - the spatial property of the way in which something is placed
    subtypes:
    • raster - the rectangular formation of parallel scanning lines that guide the electron beam on a television screen or a computer monitor
    • rig, rigging - formation of masts, spars, sails, etc., on a vessel
    • split - (tenpin bowling) a divided formation of pins left standing after the first bowl
  6. Natural process that causes something to form (synset 113504691)
    "the formation of gas in the intestine"; "the formation of crystals"; "the formation of pseudopods"
    is a type of: action, activity, natural action, natural process - a process existing in or produced by nature (rather than by the intent of human beings)
    subtypes:
  7. Creation by mental activity (synset 100929331)
    "the formation of sentences"; "the formation of memories"
    is a type of: creating by mental acts - the act of creating something by thinking
    subtypes: affixation - formation of a word by means of an affix

Other Searches