segment

plural segments

1. A length of some object.

   a segment of rope

2. One of the parts into which any body naturally separates or is divided; a part divided or cut off; a section; a portion.

   a segment of an orange; a segment of a compound or divided leaf

   1 more example

   The ability of a segment of a glass sphere to magnify whatever is placed before it was known around the year 1000, when the spherical segment was called a reading stone,[…]. Scribes, illuminators, and scholars held such stones directly over manuscript pages as an aid in seeing what was being written, drawn, or read.

   2013 September-October, Henry Petroski, “The Evolution of Eyeglasses”, in American Scientist

   Synonyms: cleft, clove, lith

3. A portion.
   1. mathematicsA straight path between two points that is the shortest distance between them; a line segment.

      Synonyms: line segment

   2. geometryThe part of a circle between its circumference and a chord (usually other than the diameter).

      Synonyms: circular segment

   3. geometryThe part of a sphere cut off by a plane.
   4. mathematicsAny of the pieces that constitute an order tree.
   5. human sciencesA discrete unit of speech: a consonant or a vowel.
   6. biologyA portion of an organ whose cells are derived from a single cell within the primordium from which the organ developed.

      In Lejeuneaceae vegetative branches normally originate from the basiscopic basal portion of a lateral segment half, as in the Radulaceae, and the associated leaves, therefore, are quite unmodified.

      1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page 5

   7. biologyOne of several parts of an organism, with similar structure, arranged in a chain; such as a vertebra, or a third of an insect's thorax.
4. broadcastingA part of a broadcast program, devoted to a topic.

   The news showed a segment on global warming.

   1 more example

   In “Treehouse Of Horror” episodes, the rules aren’t just different—they don’t even exist. If writers want Homer to kill Flanders or for a segment to end with a marriage between a woman and a giant ape, they can do so without worrying about continuity or consistency or fans griping that the gang is behaving out of character.

   2012 April 29, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Treehouse of Horror III” (season 4, episode 5; originally aired 10/29/1992)”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)

5. computingAn Ethernet bus.
6. computingA region of memory or a fragment of an executable file designated to contain a particular part of a program.
7. lifestyleA portion of an itinerary: it may be a flight or train between two cities, or a car or hotel booked in a particular city.

present singular third person segments · participle present segmenting · participle past segmented · past segmented

1. ambitransitiveTo divide into segments or sections.

   Segment the essay by topic.