conformation

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noun con·for·ma·tion \ ˌkän-(ˌ)fȯr-ˈmā-shən , -fər- \

Definition of conformation

1 :the act of conforming or producing conformity :adaptation

2 :formation of something by appropriate arrangement of parts or elements :an assembling into a whole

the gradual conformation of the embryo

3 a :correspondence especially to a model or plan

b :structure

c :the shape or proportionate dimensions especially of an animal

d :any of the spatial arrangements of a molecule that can be obtained by rotation of the atoms about a single bond

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conformational

play \ˌkän-(ˌ)fȯr-ˈmā-shnəl, -shə-nᵊl, -fər-\ adjective

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See conformation defined for kids

Examples of conformation in a Sentence

The dogs will be judged on conformation tomorrow.
an ice sculpture in the conformation of a swan

Recent Examples of conformation from the Web

In many cases, adopting a pedigree dog comes with a contract from the breeder that requires owners to participate in competitive events such as shows for conformation and agility sports to further the dog's family name.

— mia kaplan, NOLA.com, "Lacombe family bonds over training competition Aussie Shepherd dog," 1 July 2017
Otting, who now lives in Nevada, probably will face the same kind of hammering from Senate Banking Committee Democrats over OneWest’s business practices that Mnuchin endured during his conformation process.

— jesse hamilton, Bloomberg.com, "Trump Picks Ex-Banker Otting to Regulate Wall Street at OCC," 6 June 2017
Gus was the son of the regional grand champion in conformation and the nephew of the grand champion in agility; and Gus turned out to be the pick of the litter.

— joan morris, The Mercury News, "Giant schnauzer wants nothing to do with car," 15 Feb. 2017
Using a breakthrough technology developed by Dr. Dekker and his colleagues called chromosome conformation capture, researchers lately have made progress in tracking the deep structure of DNA.

— natalie angier, New York Times, "A Family’s Shared Defect Sheds Light on the Human Genome," 9 Jan. 2017
There’s the Staffordshire bull terrier, which has been a conformation breed since the 1930s; and the newer breed called the American bully, which was derived from the American Staffordshire terrier in the 1990s.

— National Geographic, "The Most Feared Dogs May Also Be the Most Misunderstood," 3 July 2016
But the three other breeds that are lumped into this category have always been dog show conformation breeds.

— National Geographic, "The Most Feared Dogs May Also Be the Most Misunderstood," 3 July 2016
The protein will prefer some conformations to others: There may well be only one place in the vast phase space –

— oliver morton, WIRED, "Gene Machine," 1 July 2001

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