state

plural states

1. countableuncountableA condition; a set of circumstances applying at any given time.

   a state of being

   3 more examples

   a state of emergency

   Relate what Latium was, her ancient Kings : / Declare the paſt, and preſent State of things, / When firſt the Trojan Fleet Auſonia ſought ; / And how the Rivals lov’d, and how they fought.

   1697, “Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil, volume III, Londo: Jacob Tonson, published 1721, page 713

   I corralled the judge, and we started off across the fields, in no very mild state of fear of that gentleman's wife, whose vigilance was seldom relaxed.

   1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter VIII, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC

   1. countableuncountablenatural sciencesA complete description of a system, consisting of parameters that determine all properties of the system.

      States in which the energy has definite values are called stationary states of a system; they are described by wave functions Ψₙ which are the eigenfunctions of the Hamiltonian operator, i.e. which satisfy the equation ĤΨₙ = EₙΨₙ, where Eₙ are the eigenvalues of the energy.

      1977, J. B. Sykes; John Stewart Bell, translating Lev Landau; Evgeny Lifshitz, Course of Theoretical Physics Vol. 3: Quantum Mechanics: Non-relativistic Theory, page 28

   2. colloquialcountablesingularuncountableA mess; disorder; a bad condition or set of circumstances.

      in a state

      4 more examples

      absolute state

      in a bit of a state

      Who the fuck undressed me? Try tracing back. It's now Sunday. Yesterday was Saturday. The semi-final at Hampden. I had got myself into some fucking state before and after the match.

      1994 [1993], Irvine Welsh, “Traditional Sunday Breakfast”, in Trainspotting, London: Minerva, →ISBN, page 92

      An absolute state of a visit: what the Trump and Windsor snapshots tell us [title]

      2019 June 3, Hannah Jane Parkinson, “An absolute state of a visit: what the Trump and Windsor snapshots tell us”, in The Guardian

      Synonyms: ass in a sling, bind, bucket of syrup, calvary, cauldron, cross, cross to bear, difficulty

   3. countableuncountablecomputingThe stable condition of a processor during a particular clock cycle.

      In the fetch state, the address of the next instruction is placed on the address bus.

   4. countableuncountablecomputingThe set of all parameters relevant to a computation.

      The state here includes a set containing all names seen so far.

   5. countableuncountablecomputingThe values of all parameters at some point in a computation.

      A debugger can show the state of a program at any breakpoint.

   6. countableuncountablesciencesThe physical property of matter as solid, liquid, gas or plasma.
   7. countableobsoleteuncountableHighest and stationary condition, as that of maturity between growth and decline, or as that of crisis between the increase and the abating of a disease; height; acme.
2. High social standing or circumstance.
   1. countableuncountablePomp, ceremony, or dignity.

      in state

      1 more example

      The President's body will lie in state at the Capitol.

   2. countableuncountableRank; condition; quality.

      And leſned by that ſmall, God I beſeech him, / Thy honor, ſtate, and ſeate, is due to me.

      c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]

   3. countableuncountableCondition of prosperity or grandeur; wealthy or prosperous circumstances; social importance.

      Can this imperious lord forget to reign, / Quit all his ſtate, deſcend, and ſerve again ?

      1703, “The Thebais of Statius”, in Alexander Pope, transl., The Works of Alexander Pope, volume II, London: H. Lintont et al., published 1751, book I, page 145

      1 more example

      Firſt, in princely behaviour and geſture, teaching him how he ſhould keep of a kind of ſtate, and yet, with a modeſt ſenſe of his misfortunes.

      1616, Francis Bacon, The History of Henry VII, of England, published 1786, page 139

   4. countableuncountableA chair with a canopy above it, often standing on a dais; a seat of dignity; also, the canopy itself.

      […]and from the dore / Of that Plutonia Hall, inviſible / Aſcended his high Throne, which under ſtate / Of richeſt texture ſpred, at th’ upper end / Was plac’t in regal luſtre.

      1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 443–447

      1 more example

      He invented a way of coming into a Room backwards, which he ſaid ſhew’d more Humility, and leſs Affectation ; where other People ſtood, he ſat ; when he went to Court, he us’d to kick away the State, and ſit down by his Prince, Cheek by Choul[…]

      1712, John Arbuthnot, Jonathan Swift [uncertain], “Jack’s Charms, or the Method by which he gain’d Peg’s Heart”, in John Bull Still In His Senses, London: John Morphew, page 13

      Synonyms: chair of state

   5. countableobsoleteuncountableA great person, a dignitary; a lord or prince.

      We in the name of other Perſean ſtates, And commons of this mightie Monarchy, Preſent thee with the Emperiall Diadem.

      c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene i

      1 more example

      They who to States and Governours of the Commonwealth direct their Speech, High Court of Parlament, or wanting ſuch acceſſe in a private condition, write that which they foreſee may advance the publick good ; I ſuppoſe them as at the beginning of no meane endeavour, not a little alter’d and mov’d inwardly in their mindes[…]

      1644, John Milton, Areopagitica, page 1

   6. countableobsoleteuncountableEstate, possession.

      Your ’State, my Lord, again is yours.

      c. 1619, Philip Massinger, Nathan Field, “The Fatal Dowry”, in The Works of Philip Massinger, volume II, London: T. Davies, published 1761, [Act V, scene ii], page 271

      1 more example

      Their parties great, meanes good, the ſeaſon fit, / Their practice cloſe, their faith ſuſpected not, / Their ſtates far off, and they of wary wit : / Who, with large promiſes, ſo wooe the Scot / To aide their Cauſe, as he conſents to it ; / And glad was to diſturne that furious ſtreame / Of warre, on vs, that elſe had ſwallowed them.

      1595, Samuel Daniel, “The Civile Wars between the Two Houses of Lancaster and Yorke”, in Alexander Balloch Grosart, editor, The Complete Works in Verse and Prose of Samuel Daniel, volume II, book IV, stanza 20, page 142

3. A polity or community.
   1. countableuncountablehistorically often capitalizedA sovereign country or city state with a central government acting as its head and operator; national aspects as opposed to international and local ones.

      Never do anything against conscience even if the state demands it.

      a. 1949, Albert Einstein, as quoted by Virgil Henshaw in Albert Einstein: Philosopher Scientist (1949)

      1 more example

      In the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, three of the Soviet Union's fifteen constituent republics, last year's most dangerous fantasies have been sanctioned by the government itself.

      1989 May, Priit J. Vesilind, “The Baltic: Arena of Power”, in National Geographic, volume 175, number 5, page 604

   2. countableuncountableA political division of a federation retaining a notable degree of autonomy, as in the United States, Mexico, Nigeria, or India.

      His alibi is that he was out of state the night of the murder.

      4 more examples

      The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

      1789, United States Bill of Rights

      You do solemnly swear (or affirm, as the case may be) that you will support the constitution of the United States, and the constitution of the state of Connecticut, so long as you continue a citizen thereof; and that you will faithfully discharge, according to law, the duties of the office of […] to the best of your abilities.

      1839, John Beach, Thomas Clap Perkins, The public statute laws of the state of Connecticut, page 35

      As Australia considers whether to allow states greater latitude in the indirect tax field, it must ask what it will do when (not if) it finally decides that the federal government should enact a modern general sales tax.

      1993, Charles E. McLure, Vertical fiscal imbalance and the assignment of taxing powers in Australia, →ISBN

      The Central Lowlands is often referred to as the heart of America — and with good reason: If we look at the names of the eight states with populations of 10 million or more, this region has three of them, Illinois, Ohio, and Michigan, more than any one of the other five.

      2001, Angus Macleod Gunn, The Impact of Geology on the United States, page 0313314446

   3. countableobsoleteuncountableA form of government other than a monarchy.

      Well monarchies may own religion’s name, / But ſtates are atheiſts in their very frame.

      1662, John Dryden, “Satire on the Dutch”, in The Works of the English Poets, volume XIII, London: R. Hett, published 1779, page 41

   4. countableuncountableanthropologyA society larger than a tribe. A society large enough to form a state in the sense of a government.
4. countableuncountablestochastic processesmathematicsAn element of the range of the random variables that define a random process.
5. countableuncountablegrammarThe lexical aspect (aktionsart) of verbs or predicates that do not change over time.

   The most basic Aktionsart distinction is between states and occurrences.

   2010, Nick Riemer, Introducing Semantics, page 320

   1 more example

   […]distinctions among states of affairs are reflected to a striking degree in distinctions among Aktionsart types. That is, situations are expressed by state verbs or predicates, events by achievement verbs or predicates, and actions by activity verbs or predicates.

   1997, Robert van Valin, Randy LaPolla, Syntax, page 92

   Antonyms: occurrence

present singular third person states · participle present stating · participle past stated · past stated

1. transitiveTo declare to be a fact.

   He stated that he was willing to help.

   4 more examples

   Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers, of errand not wholly obvious to their fellows, yet of such sort as to call into query alike the nature of their errand and their own relations. It is easily earned repetition to state that Josephine St. Auban's was a presence not to be concealed.

   1910, Emerson Hough, chapter II, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC

   A provision of law may not be construed as requiring a new grant to be awarded to a specified non-Federal Government entity unless that provision of law (1) specifically refers to this subsection; specifically identifies the particular non-Federal Government entity involved; and (3) specifically states that the award to that entity is required by such provision of law in contravention of the policy set forth in subsection (a).

   1994, Congress of the United States, United States Statutes at Large, volume 108, part 4

   The species-preserving purposivity of higher organisms is no greater than that of the lowest forms of life, and Jakob von Uexküll was entirely justified in stating that all living organisms are equally well adapted to their environments.

   1996, Konrad Lorenz, chapter 5, in Robert D. Martin, transl., The Natural Science of the Human Species, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, page 93

   When Tony Greig, in a meaningful and provocative interview, asked Sarfaraz background of betting and match-fixing, the Pakistan "superbat" categorically stated that it should start with Asif Iqbal and Gavaskar who, according to him, were the "original fixers"..

   2017, K R Wadhwaney, Indian Cricket Controversies

2. transitiveTo make known.

   State your intentions.

comparative more state · superlative most state

1. obsoleteStately.

   The ſhepheardes ſwayne you cannot well ken, / But it be by his pride, from other men: / They looken bigge as Bulles, that bene bate, / And bearen the cragge ſo ſtiffe and ſo ſtate, / As Cocke on his dunghill, crowing cranck.

   1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], “September. Ægloga Nona.”, in The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Iohn Wolfe for Iohn Harrison the yonger, […], →OCLC, folio 36, recto

plural States

1. A political entity that regulates society and the population within a definite territory.
2. oftenwith definite articleThe current governing political entity in which the speaker lives.

1. State University, as the shortened form of a public university name.

   State begins fouling and UCLA misses a couple of front-end free throws on one-and-ones.

   2009, Brandon Lang, Stanley Cohen, Beating the Odds: The Rise, Fall, and Resurrection of a Sports Handicapper, →ISBN

   1 more example

   The Pack’s average seed in the mountain of NCAA tourney predictions out there is 10, and even the most optimistic takes on State’s situation have the team as an eight-seed.

   2019 February 25, Steven Muma, “NCAA tournament position stays tenuous as NC State does the bare minimum”, in Backing the Pack