Sample sentences for FUNCTION - verbalworkout.com

6 meanings

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1 —as in:
Its main function is to...

Definition

purpose, job, or natural activity

The function of the lens of the eye is to focus light on the retina.

function = job or purpose

Other Uses (with this meaning)

Scientist do not know all the functions that the nutrient performs.

functions = purposes or natural activities

Without wisdom I could not fulfill my function of advising the Committee of Elders when they call upon me.
Lois Lowry -- The Giver

function = job

It is your duty as a magistrate, and I believe and hope that your feelings as a man will not revolt from the execution of those functions on this occasion.
Mary Shelley -- Frankenstein

functions = responsibilities (jobs)

His function is to act as a focusing point for love, fear, and reverence, emotions which are more easily felt towards an individual than towards an organization.
George Orwell -- 1984

function = job

This was the first time he had admitted the double function of the fire. Certainly one was to send up a beckoning column of smoke; but the other was to be a hearth now and a comfort until they slept.
William Golding -- Lord of the Flies

function = purpose

Simply, it was this: for good purposes, even high purposes, the people of Salem developed a theocracy, a combine of state and religious power whose function was to keep the community together, and to prevent any kind of disunity that might open it to destruction by material or ideological enemies.
Arthur Miller -- The Crucible

function = purpose

Well, that's kind of complicated, Lizbeth, but essentially Wonderland records a virtual map of your cognitive functions.
Rick Yancey -- The 5th Wave

functions = activities or operations

The Algernon-Gordon Effect: A Study of Structure and Function of Increased Intelligence
Daniel Keyes -- Flowers for Algernon — Novel

function = activity or operation

Nonetheless, as they navigated the deserted corridors, Trish gave him a general synopsis of the SMSC's purpose and function, including the various pods and their contents.
Dan Brown -- The Lost Symbol

function = operation

Dictionary / pronunciation — Google^®Dictionary / more samples — Oxford^® US Dictionary list — Onelook.com^®

2 —as in:
can't function well without sleep

Definition

work or operate — sometimes to work or operate normally or in a particular way

I don't function well on less than six hours of sleep a night; and I do best on nine.

function = work or operate

Other Uses (with this meaning)

My brain does not function as well when I'm under stress.

function = work or operate

Moderate exercise improves brain function.

function = operation (how well it works)

The computer isn't functioning properly.

functioning = working or operating

The computer isn't functional.

functional = working

If the hurricane is bad, the school gym will function as an emergency shelter.

function = work or operate

The kitchen table also functions as a study desk.

functions = works or operates

It takes a moment for him to get his brain functioning again.
Neal Shusterman -- Unwind

functioning = working

The constant gunfire and curfews had made it impossible for the hospital to function, so he had moved it to Barikot.
Malala Yousafzai -- I Am Malala

function = work or operate

Our militaries had been decimated, but there were still functional units on every continent.
Rick Yancey -- The 5th Wave

functional = able to work

Dictionary / pronunciation — Google^®Dictionary / more samples — Oxford^® US Dictionary list — Onelook.com^®

3 —as in:
I'm attending a function tonight

Definition

a social event or ceremony — especially one attended for work or out of a sense of duty

I promised to attend their function tonight. I think it's important that we show our support.

function = social event or ceremony

Other Uses (with this meaning)

She attends a lot of school functions.

functions = social events or ceremonies

It's a function celebrating gay rights.

function = social event or ceremony

I wanted to meet you all and see my sister again, but I hate it when these things turn into state functions.
Kiera Cass -- The Selection

functions = social events that are a duty

Look at me: the life of every social function in Paris.
David Henry Hwang -- M. Butterfly

function = social event

There weren't a lot of people who were equipped to babysit for Auggie, so Mom and Dad brought him to all my class plays and concerts and recitals, all the school functions, the bake sales and the book fairs.
R.J. Palacio -- Wonder

functions = social events

"It reminds me of a lower-caste Community Sing," she told Bernard. But a little later it was reminding her a good deal less of that innocuous function.
Aldous Huxley -- Brave New World

function = social event or ceremony

In retrospect, and having now seen the child in question at various school functions and in the class pictures, I think it may have been too much to ask of our children to be able to process all that.
R.J. Palacio -- Wonder

functions = social events

It was a half-page torn out of The Times of about ten years earlier — the top half of the page, so that it included the date — and it contained a photograph of the delegates at some Party function in New York.
George Orwell -- 1984

function = event

It was another copy of the photograph of Jones, Aaronson, and Rutherford at the party function in New York, which he had chanced upon eleven years ago and promptly destroyed.
George Orwell -- 1984

function = event

Dictionary / pronunciation — Google^®Dictionary / more samples — Oxford^® US Dictionary list — Onelook.com^®

4 —as in:
oxygen is a function of altitude

Definition

saying one results from another; or saying that the amount of one thing is dependent upon the value of another.

Their success is a function of their teamwork and practice.

function = result

Other Uses (with this meaning)

Expertise is largely a function of hours spent on task.

function = predictable value

Oxygen is a function of altitude.
It is possible that both the increased intelligence and the erratic behavior at this level were created by the original surgery, instead of one being a function of the other.
Daniel Keyes -- Flowers for Algernon — Novel

function = result

Dictionary / pronunciation — Google^®Dictionary / more samples — Oxford^® US Dictionary list — Onelook.com^®

5 —as in:
Amazon's new search function

Definition

computer code that performs a specific task

I like Amazon's new search function.

function = computer code that performs a specific task

Other Uses (with this meaning)

The program has a built-in function that does that with a single user request.

function = computer code that performs a specific task

There should be a search function.
Rick Yancey -- The 5th Wave

function = computer code that performs a specific task

Most databases have a search function built in—libraries, museums, universities, governments.
Dan Brown -- The Lost Symbol

function = computer code that performs a specific task

Dictionary / pronunciation — Google^®Dictionary / more samples — Oxford^® US Dictionary list — Onelook.com^®

6 —as in:
a mathematical function

Definition

a formula or mathematical expression that describes a relationship between variables

What is the function to calculate how much carpet is required to cover a rectangular room of a given length and width?

function = formula (a mathematical expression that describe a relationship between variables)

Other Uses (with this meaning)

Do you remember the function to calculate the area of a circle from its radius?

function = mathematical expression that describe a relationship between variables

Since there is less oxygen at high altitudes, to know how much oxygen is available at the top of any mountain, you will need a function that converts altitude to available oxygen.

function = formula (a mathematical expression that describe a relationship between variables)

Dictionary / pronunciation — Google^®Dictionary / more samples — Oxford^® US Dictionary list — Onelook.com^®

Less commonly:

For more specialized meanings in math and chemistry, see a comprehensive dictionary.

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