1
a
: a geometric figure bounded by two radii and the included arc of a circle
b(1)
: a subdivision of a defensive military position
(2)
: a portion of a military front or area of operation
c
: an area or portion resembling a sector
bilingual sector of town—
David Kleinberg
David Kleinberg
d
: a sociological, economic, or political subdivision of society
cooperation between the public and private sectors—Peter Chapman
Peter Chapman2
: a mathematical instrument consisting of two rulers connected at one end by a joint and marked with several scales
3
: a subdivision of a track on a computer disk
sectoral
adjective
ˈsek-t(ə-)rəl
sectored; sectoring
ˈsek-t(ə-)riŋ 
: to divide into or furnish with sectors
Examples of sector in a Sentence
Noun
He was assigned to the northern sector.
Data is stored on the disk in 512-byte sectors.
Recent Examples on the WebElisabeth Buchwald, CNN, 9 Apr. 2024
The health care industry is affected by ransomware attacks more than any other critical infrastructure sector, according to a 2023 internet crime report by the FBI.
—The Courier-Journal, 9 Apr. 2024
Before that, Devine held various other positions at Sky, including as program director, content resource planning and as group metadata director, following years in TV production and broadcast facilities management across the independent sector.
—Georg Szalai, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Apr. 2024
Some have worried that as the booming labor market recovery gave way to a milder expansion, job growth would mostly narrow to less cyclical sectors like government hiring and health care.
—Talmon Joseph Smith, New York Times, 5 Apr. 2024
Recent Greatest Hits Last year, the Spanish film and TV sector continued to flourish internationally.
—Emiliano De Pablos, Variety, 5 Apr. 2024
In the National Assembly, Park wants to shape science, technology and tax policies that affect the engineering and industrial sectors, which fueled South Korea’s economic rise as a manufacturing powerhouse.
—Michelle Lee, Washington Post, 5 Apr. 2024
For instance, the minimum age for jobs in the agriculture sector the minimum age is much lower.
—Keenan Thomas, USA TODAY, 28 Mar. 2024
Furthermore, Worldpay stands to gain from the formidable resources and expertise of GTCR, particularly noteworthy given GTCR’s recent completion of a prosperous $11.5 billion fundraise, specifically targeting investments in the FinTech and technology sectors.
—Joe Cornell, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024
Melissa Houston, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024
Hipgnosis Songs Fund, the music-catalog firm that has faced investor criticism, moved to soothe shareholders Thursday, saying new advisers had endorsed the valuation of its songs and pointing to sector dealmaking at robust prices.
—Julie Steinberg, WSJ, 8 Dec. 2022
The country has lost over 900,000 jobs since the start of the pandemic, with women, young people and the services sector the most damaged.
—Alessandra Migliaccio, Fortune, 30 Apr. 2021
Hundreds of thousands of students from overseas have made the Australian universities sector one of the nation's biggest earners of foreign currency.
—Rod McGuirk, Star Tribune, 7 Oct. 2020
The last few days saw hotels, resorts, and cruise lines sector outperform information technology by enough to break a long-lasting trend.
—Andrew Stuttaford, National Review, 11 Sep. 2020
The recent gains led RBC Capital Markets analyst Steven Arthur to downgrade his rating to sector perform from outperform Friday.
—Sandrine Rastello, Bloomberg.com, 31 May 2020
The professional and business services sector lost 6,900 jobs; the next biggest losses were 1,700 in manufacturing and 1,600 in finance.
—Mark Williams, Cincinnati.com, 6 Mar. 2020
Network planning is basically about which sectors an airline will fly in, and at what frequency.
—Niharika Sharma, Quartz India, 6 Feb. 2020
Noun
Without gains across those sectors, the economy would appear a lot less strong.
—Elisabeth Buchwald, CNN, 9 Apr. 2024
The health care industry is affected by ransomware attacks more than any other critical infrastructure sector, according to a 2023 internet crime report by the FBI.
—The Courier-Journal, 9 Apr. 2024
Before that, Devine held various other positions at Sky, including as program director, content resource planning and as group metadata director, following years in TV production and broadcast facilities management across the independent sector.
—Georg Szalai, The Hollywood Reporter, 9 Apr. 2024
Some have worried that as the booming labor market recovery gave way to a milder expansion, job growth would mostly narrow to less cyclical sectors like government hiring and health care.
—Talmon Joseph Smith, New York Times, 5 Apr. 2024
Recent Greatest Hits Last year, the Spanish film and TV sector continued to flourish internationally.
—Emiliano De Pablos, Variety, 5 Apr. 2024
In the National Assembly, Park wants to shape science, technology and tax policies that affect the engineering and industrial sectors, which fueled South Korea’s economic rise as a manufacturing powerhouse.
—Michelle Lee, Washington Post, 5 Apr. 2024
For instance, the minimum age for jobs in the agriculture sector the minimum age is much lower.
—Keenan Thomas, USA TODAY, 28 Mar. 2024
Furthermore, Worldpay stands to gain from the formidable resources and expertise of GTCR, particularly noteworthy given GTCR’s recent completion of a prosperous $11.5 billion fundraise, specifically targeting investments in the FinTech and technology sectors.
—Joe Cornell, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024
Verb
These might include factors such as location, the industry or sector your business operates within, the number of employees, the type of business entity, and your business’s financial health.
—Melissa Houston, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024
Hipgnosis Songs Fund, the music-catalog firm that has faced investor criticism, moved to soothe shareholders Thursday, saying new advisers had endorsed the valuation of its songs and pointing to sector dealmaking at robust prices.
—Julie Steinberg, WSJ, 8 Dec. 2022
The country has lost over 900,000 jobs since the start of the pandemic, with women, young people and the services sector the most damaged.
—Alessandra Migliaccio, Fortune, 30 Apr. 2021
Hundreds of thousands of students from overseas have made the Australian universities sector one of the nation's biggest earners of foreign currency.
—Rod McGuirk, Star Tribune, 7 Oct. 2020
The last few days saw hotels, resorts, and cruise lines sector outperform information technology by enough to break a long-lasting trend.
—Andrew Stuttaford, National Review, 11 Sep. 2020
The recent gains led RBC Capital Markets analyst Steven Arthur to downgrade his rating to sector perform from outperform Friday.
—Sandrine Rastello, Bloomberg.com, 31 May 2020
The professional and business services sector lost 6,900 jobs; the next biggest losses were 1,700 in manufacturing and 1,600 in finance.
—Mark Williams, Cincinnati.com, 6 Mar. 2020
Network planning is basically about which sectors an airline will fly in, and at what frequency.
—Niharika Sharma, Quartz India, 6 Feb. 2020
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sector.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near sector
Cite this Entry
“Sector.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sector. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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