modal

comparative more modal · superlative most modal

1. Of, or relating to a mode or modus.
2. grammarOf, relating to, or describing the mood of a clause.
3. entertainmentOf, relating to, or composed in the musical modi by which an octave is divided, associated with emotional moods in Ancient — and in medieval ecclesiastical — music.
   1. broadlyentertainmentIn a mode which is not major or minor scale, the standard modes used in the Western musical tradition.
4. human sciencesOf, or relating to the modality between propositions.
5. mathematicsRelating to the statistical mode.
6. computingHaving separate modes in which user input has different effects.

   Antonyms: modeless

7. computingRequiring immediate user interaction and thus presented so that it cannot be closed or interacted behind until a decision is made.

   a modal dialog; a modal window

   1 more example

   Dialogs can be modal, in which case the user is required to provide necessary information before work in the main window can continue, or modeless. Modeless dialogs do not prevent the user from interacting with any of the other windows in the application.

   a. 2011, “Dialog Windows”, in Qt Widgets Documentation, archived from the original on 07 Feb 2020

   Antonyms: modeless

8. metaphysicsRelating to the form of a thing rather to any of its attributes.

plural modals

1. human sciencesA modal (etymology 1, adjective sense 4) proposition.
2. human sciencesA modal (etymology 1, adjective sense 2) form, notably a modal auxiliary.
3. grammarA modal verb.

   1 more example

   Using the same type of distributional criterion, we could argue that only a Verb (in its base form) can occur in the position marked — in (23) below to complete the sentence: (23) They/it can — [...] Conversely, the only type of word which could be used to begin a three-word sentence such as (25) below: (25) — I be frank? is a Modal: cf. [...]

   1988, Andrew Radford, Transformational Grammar: A First Course, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 61

4. computingA modal (etymology 1, adjective sense 7) window, one that cannot be closed until a decision is made.

   Modal screen elements are subtrees which, when activated, disable all elements external to them. Examples of modals are yes-no message boxes and the application itself.

   1996, OOPSLA '96: Conference on Object-Oriented Programming Systems, Languages, and Applications, volume 31, numbers 10-12

1. uncountablefabricA semi-synthetic fabric, a very soft kind of rayon textile made from beech tree pulp and processed with chemicals.