array

verb

ar·ray | \ ə-ˈrā

arrayed; arraying; arrays

Definition of array

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : to dress or decorate especially in splendid or impressive attire : adorn … he had already arrayed himself in his best clothes.— Thomas Hardy

2a : to set or place in order : draw up, marshal the forces arrayed against us

b : to set or set forth in order (something, such as a jury) for the trial of a cause

3 : to arrange or display in or as if in an array The … data are arrayed in descending order.— Ed Burnett

array

noun

Definition of array (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : an imposing group : large number faced a whole array of problems also : variety, assortment a broad array of styles

2a : a regular and imposing grouping or arrangement : order lined up … in soldierly array— Donald Barthelme

b law : an orderly listing of jurors impaneled

3a : clothing, attire

b : rich or beautiful apparel : finery

4 : a body of soldiers : militia the baron and his feudal array

5a(1) : a number of mathematical elements arranged in rows and columns

(2) : a data structure in which similar elements of data are arranged in a table

b : a series of statistical data arranged in classes in order of magnitude

6 : a group of elements forming a complete unit an antenna array

Other Words from array Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about array

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Examples of array in a Sentence

Verb

She arrayed herself in rich velvets and satins. a door arrayed for the holidays with a beautiful evergreen wreath

Noun

an array of solar panels an array of baseball gloves in the corner of his room

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

By the time the fighting had subsided, thousands of innocents had lost their lives — including five American nuns, who Taylor’s soldiers mistakenly believed to be cooperating with the forces arrayed against them. — Jeremy Roebuck, Philly.com, "Another Liberian in Delco stands trial for alleged role in brutal civil war," 11 June 2018 Meanwhile, 46 battalions of Russia's Western Military District and the Kaliningrad Oblast—about nine combat divisions' worth—are arrayed against them. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "U.S. Official: Russia Could Defeat NATO in Less Than 3 Days," 14 June 2016 Naturally, the royal crash pad is beyond glamorous by today’s standards, with seemingly endless rooms arrayed in antiques, royal portraits, and family treasures, including an original Fabergé egg (more on that later). — Olivia Martin, Town & Country, "The Story of the Incredible Paris Apartment in The Romanoffs Episode 1," 12 Oct. 2018 Facebook Oculus Quest builds sensors into the headset itself, with four cameras arrayed around the edges of the visor. — Hayden Dingman, PCWorld, "The $399 Oculus Quest is a premium VR headset with no wires—and no PC required," 26 Sep. 2018 The Gatling featured four to ten barrels arrayed around a central axis and a top-loading magazine which loaded each barrel in turn before the continuing turn of the gun's crank fired the weapon. — Matthew Moss, Popular Mechanics, "The Story of the Gatling Gun," 22 Aug. 2016 The final step is to dig the hundreds of horizontal burial shafts, arrayed like fish bones along the deepest access tunnels. — Tim Heffernan, Popular Mechanics, "Finland's Crazy Plan to Make Nuclear Waste Disappear," 10 May 2012 England lines up from 35 yards in the center for a free kick; their targets are arrayed across the 18. — Rory Smith, New York Times, "Croatia Digs Deeper, Burying England’s World Cup Dreams," 12 July 2018 Herbarium specimens – again, of varieties included in Tree of 40 Fruit and the Open Orchard – are arrayed formally against a wall. — Barbara Schreiber, charlotteobserver, "This artist ‘sculpts’ in living trees and fruit. Here’s what he’s doing now in Charlotte," 11 July 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

An array of possible outcomes are on the table as the March 29 deadline looms, including a decision to postpone the scheduled exit date or hold a second referendum that could undo the results of the 2016 vote. — Avantika Chilkoti, WSJ, "What Betting Markets Say About Brexit’s Next Steps," 16 Jan. 2019 Big branding opportunities Orlando, Florida’s bid included the standard array of tax breaks and investment options, but stood apart with its promise to give the company a new kind of graphics treatment. — Patrick Sisson, Curbed, "Amazon HQ2 bids: The weird ways cities wanted to woo Bezos," 27 Dec. 2018 Two major advances have fed its growing use: the availability of cheap computing power and the sophisticated array of sensors now built into most smartphones. — Stacy Cowley, The Seattle Times, "Banks and retailers are tracking how you type, swipe and tap while browsing online," 13 Aug. 2018 Telegram’s fight with Russia stands out among clashes between tech companies and government agencies for the sheer array of tactics being used by Putin’s censors. — Jacob Silverman, Longreads, "Private Telegram, Public Strife," 3 July 2018 At any time, dozens of men and women work on bumps, kicks and the dizzying array of moves that go into making a professional wrestling match. — Jon Tayler, SI.com, "Million Dollar Moves: After His Unlikely Baseball Career Flamed Out, Rinku Singh's Next Stop Is WWE," 3 July 2018 With postcard-perfect beaches, an array of restaurants serving up fresh seafood, and a handful of cutesy boutiques, spending LDW in ACK is pretty much a no-brainer. — Kara Thompson, Town & Country, "Easy Labor Day Getaway Ideas for Last Minute Planners," 26 June 2018 But when humans began to communicate using language, a much broader array of cooperation became possible. — John Hawks, WSJ, "‘The Goodness Paradox’ Review: The Benefits of Good Breeding," 25 Jan. 2019 Last year, Rothemund's Caltech colleague Lulu Qian introduced a cheap means of getting DNA origami to assemble itself into large arrays. — Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, "Caltech scientists use DNA tiles to play tic-tac-toe at the nanoscale," 29 Dec. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'array.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

14 Feb 2019

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Time Traveler for array

The first known use of array was in the 13th century

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More Definitions for array

array

verb

English Language Learners Definition of array

(Entry 1 of 2)

formal

: to place (a group of things) in a particular position so that they are in order or so that they look attractive

literary : to dress (someone, especially yourself) in fine clothing

: to put (soldiers) in a place or position so that they are ready to attack

array

noun

English Language Learners Definition of array (Entry 2 of 2)

: a large group or number of things

: a group of numbers, symbols, etc., that are arranged in rows and columns

: a way of organizing pieces of information in the memory of a computer so that similar kinds of information are together

See the full definition for array in the English Language Learners Dictionary

array

verb

ar·ray | \ ə-ˈrā

arrayed; arraying

Kids Definition of array

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : to place in order Soldiers arrayed themselves for review. The table was arrayed with all sorts of delicacies.

2 : to dress especially in fine or beautiful clothing He was arrayed like a prince.

array

noun

Kids Definition of array (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : an impressive group You can choose from an array of colors.

2 : a group of persons (as soldiers) in a certain order

3 : fine or beautiful clothing They were dressed in magnificent array.

4 : regular order or arrangement

5 : a group of mathematical elements (as numbers or letters) arranged in rows and columns

array

transitive verb

ar·ray | \ ə-ˈrā

Legal Definition of array

(Entry 1 of 2)

: to set (a jury) for trial specifically : to set (a jury) by calling out the names of the jurors one at a time — compare impanel

array

noun

Legal Definition of array (Entry 2 of 2)

: the group of people summoned to serve as jurors from which the jury will be chosen also : a list of the jurors' names — see also challenge to the array at challenge — compare venire