Terminal (noun) Definition, Meaning & Examples

adjective
  1. situated at or forming the end or extremity of something: a terminal feature of a vista.
  2. occurring at or forming the end of a series, succession, or the like; closing; concluding.
  3. pertaining to or lasting for a term or definite period; occurring at fixed terms or in every term: terminal payments.
  4. pertaining to, situated at, or forming the terminus of a railroad.
  5. growing at the end of a branch or stem, as a bud or inflorescence.
  6. noting a figure, as a herm or term, in the form of a bust upon a gaine.
  7. pertaining to or placed at a boundary, as a landmark.
  8. occurring at or causing the end of life: a terminal disease.
  9. utterly beyond hope, rescue, or saving: The undercapitalized project is a terminal problem.
noun
  1. a terminal part of a structure; end or extremity.
  2. a major assemblage of station, yard, maintenance, and repair facilities, as at a terminus, at which trains originate or terminate, or at which they are distributed or combined.
  3. any device for entering information into a computer or receiving information from it, as a keyboard with video display unit, either adjoining the computer or at some distance from it.
  4. a station on the line of a public carrier, as in a city center or at an airport, where passengers embark or disembark and where freight is received or discharged.
  5. Electricity.
    • the mechanical device by means of which an electric connection to an apparatus is established.
    • the point of current entry to, or point of current departure from, any conducting component in an electric circuit.
  6. Architecture.
    • a herm or term.
    • a carving or the like at the end of something, as a finial.
adjective
  1. of, being, or situated at an end, terminus, or boundary
  2. of, relating to, or occurring after or in a term
  3. (of a disease) terminating in death
  4. extreme
  5. of or relating to the storage or delivery of freight at a warehouse
noun
  1. a terminating point, part, or place
    • a point at which current enters or leaves an electrical device, such as a battery or a circuit
    • a conductor by which current enters or leaves at such a point
  2. a device having input/output links with a computer but situated at a distance from the computer
  3. architect
    • an ornamental carving at the end of a structure
    • another name for term (def. 10)
    • a point or station usually at the end of the line of a railway, serving as an important access point for passengers or freight
    • a less common name for terminus
  4. a purpose-built reception and departure structure at the terminus of a bus, sea, or air transport route
  5. a site where raw material is unloaded, stored, in some cases reprocessed, and reloaded for further transportation, esp an onshore installation designed to receive offshore oil or gas from tankers or a pipeline
  6. physiol
    • the smallest arteriole before its division into capillaries
    • either of two veins that collect blood from the thalamus and surrounding structures and empty it into the internal cerebral vein
    • the portion of a bronchiole just before it subdivides into the air sacs of the lungs
    Terminal (noun) Definition, Meaning & Examples

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