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In general terms, a word is ambiguous if its intended meaning is in some way unclear to the reader. There are three main reasons why this can happen: The meaning of the word is imprecise or open to more than one interpretation. For example, in "the Sun is bright", 'bright' is a relative term that does nothing to inform the reader of how bright ...
In linguistics, an expression is semantically ambiguous when it can have multiple meanings. The higher the number of synonyms a word has, the higher the degree of ambiguity. [ 1] Like other kinds of ambiguity, semantic ambiguities are often clarified by context or by prosody. One's comprehension of a sentence in which a semantically ambiguous ...
A common aspect of ambiguity is uncertainty. It is thus an attribute of any idea or statement whose intended meaning cannot be definitively resolved, according to a rule or process with a finite number of steps. (The prefix ambi - reflects the idea of "two", as in "two meanings"). The concept of ambiguity is generally contrasted with vagueness.
Syntactic ambiguity, also known as structural ambiguity, [ 1] amphiboly, or amphibology, is characterized by the potential for a sentence to yield multiple interpretations due to its ambiguous syntax. This form of ambiguity is not derived from the varied meanings of individual words but rather from the relationships among words and clauses ...
t. e. Statutory interpretation is the process by which courts interpret and apply legislation. Some amount of interpretation is often necessary when a case involves a statute. Sometimes the words of a statute have a plain and a straightforward meaning. But in many cases, there is some ambiguity in the words of the statute that must be resolved ...
Semantic processing. In psycholinguistics, semantic processing is the stage of language processing that occurs after one hears a word and encodes its meaning: the mind relates the word to other words with similar meanings. Once a word is perceived, it is placed in a context mentally that allows for a deeper processing.
Dangling modifier. A dangling modifier (also known as a dangling participle or illogical participle) is a type of ambiguous grammatical construct whereby a grammatical modifier could be misinterpreted as being associated with a word other than the one intended. [ 1] A dangling modifier has no subject and is usually a participle.
Word British English meanings Meanings common to British and American English American English meanings gagging (especially as in gagging for it) desperate, especially for sex (colloquial) choking; fighting the urge to vomit ("that was so disgusting, I was gagging") gallon: 4.54609 litres (about 6/5 of US gallon)