segment

noun seg·ment \ ˈseg-mənt \

Updated on: 11 Sep 2017

Definition of segment

1 :a portion cut off from a geometric figure by one or more points, lines, or planes: such as

a :the area of a circle bounded by a chord and an arc of that circle

b :the part of a sphere cut off by a plane or included between two parallel planes

c :the finite part of a line between two points in the line

2 a :a separate piece of something :bit, fragment

chop the stalks into short segments

b :one of the constituent parts into which a body, entity, or quantity is divided or marked off by or as if by natural boundaries

all segments of the population agree

—

segmentary

play \ˈseg-mən-ˌter-ē\ adjective

See segment defined for English-language learners

See segment defined for kids

Examples of segment in a Sentence

The railroad track is divided into segments.
I think I lost one segment of this model kit.

Recent Examples of segment from the Web

Our business was featured; I was expected to organize a pre-event dinner and then oversee our showcase segment.

— rob walker, New York Times, "Deciding When a Mentor Is a Mentor," 18 Aug. 2017
ESPN also issued an apology for the tone-deaf segment.

— danielle kwateng-clark, Essence.com, "ESPN's Fantasy Football Gaffe Is A Symptom Of A Bigger Problem," 16 Aug. 2017
But for a certain very rich segment of the population, the area’s most desirable market is in a landlocked valley 20 miles northeast of downtown.

— scott garner, Town & Country, "How Arcadia, California Became the Next Calabasas," 9 Aug. 2017
Head coaches and players will answer questions during 10-minute segments, beginning at 9:30 a.m. and running through 3:10 p.m. High school sports reporter Jason Frakes will be the host.

— jason frakes, The Courier-Journal, "Schedule set for high school football media day," 2 Aug. 2017
A segment of the purported class would include videos that were legitimately swept in by the algorithm.

— jack greiner, Cincinnati.com, "Are you a YouTuber? This zombie suit may affect you," 27 July 2017
This past February, Lauren Duca endured one of the most infuriating moments of her career on a segment with Fox News.

— kaleigh fasanella, Teen Vogue, "Lauren Duca Designs "I Like My Politics Thigh High" Tank for Planned Parenthood," 17 July 2017
The chronically homeless is a segment of the homeless population that is most at risk of dying on the streets.

— mark price, charlotteobserver, "A new way to fight homelessness: Charlotte charity buys entire apartment community," 16 July 2017
Consider Noah’s sit-down with Tomi Lahren, or Hasan Minhaj’s multiple insightful segments on life as a Muslim in Trump’s America.

— laura bradley, HWD, "What Jimmy Fallon's and Seth Meyers's Emmy Snubs Mean for Late Night," 14 July 2017

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

Origin and Etymology of segment

Latin segmentum, from secare to cut — more at saw

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First Known Use: 1570

See Words from the same year

segment Synonyms

Synonyms

member, partition, portion, section, part

Related Words

component, constituent, element, factor, ingredient, moiety, parcel; cut, length; bit, fragment, particle, scrap

Near Antonyms

whole; aggregate, composite, compound, sum, total, totality

Synonym Discussion of segment

part, portion, piece, member, division, section, segment, fragment mean something less than the whole. part is a general term appropriate when indefiniteness is required.

- they ran only part of the way

portion implies an assigned or allotted part.

- cut the pie into six portions

piece applies to a separate or detached part of a whole.

- a puzzle with 500 pieces

member suggests one of the functional units composing a body.

- a structural member

division applies to a large or diversified part.

- the manufacturing division of the company

section applies to a relatively small or uniform part.

- the entertainment section of the newspaper

segment applies to a part separated or marked out by or as if by natural lines of cleavage.

- the retired segment of the population

fragment applies to a part produced by or as if by breaking off.

- only a fragment of the play still exists

segment

verb seg·ment \ ˈseg-ˌment \

Definition of segment

transitive verb

:to separate into segments :give off as segments

See segment defined for English-language learners

Examples of segment in a Sentence

Market researchers have segmented the population into different age groups.

Recent Examples of segment from the Web

The route segments through Sodo and Rainier Valley cross intersections at the surface.

— mike lindblom, The Seattle Times, "Taxi, light-rail train collide Sunday night near Othello Station," 28 Aug. 2017
But segmenting customers based on business owners’ values is a trickier slope.

— melanie eversley, USA TODAY, "Companies sever ties with hate groups as they walk fine line on diversity," 17 Aug. 2017
Su said AMD is addressing the problem in two ways: One, the company's customers are trying to segment the market between mining cards and true gaming cards.

— mark hachman, PCWorld, "Ryzen sales lead AMD earnings, despite issues with game optimization and mining," 25 July 2017
Uhlaender, the daughter of former MLB player Ted Uhlaender, has segmented her Olympic training into four-week sections this year.

— tanner walters, SI.com, "This three-time Olympian is prepping for PyeongChang 2018 with workout on NYC streets," 12 July 2017
Unlike AMD's new Epyc platform, Intel is continuing to segment its features.

— peter bright, Ars Technica, "Intel launches its new precious metal Xeon platform," 11 July 2017
An amendment of this kind would have the predictable effect of segmenting the individual insurance market.

— chris stirewalt, Fox News, "Congress returns facing major time crunch," 10 July 2017
Target also agreed to enhance security measures, including segmenting its cardholder data from the rest of its network, and to bolster password policies.

— zach kyle and dominic fracassac, idahostatesman, "Idaho’s settlement with Target over data breach won’t give money to victims," 23 May 2017
Since its launch in 2014, The Lions has taken a different approach to organizing its roster with a fluid board, not segmenting models by gender, ethnicity, size or any other parameter.

— marcy medina | wwd, latimes.com, "Lions Modeling agency opens Los Angeles office," 20 Apr. 2017

First Known Use of segment

1859

SEGMENT Defined for English Language Learners

segment

noun

Definition of segment for English Language Learners

: one of the parts into which something can be divided
geometry : a part of a circle formed by drawing a straight line between two points on the circle
: a part of a straight line between two points

segment

verb

Definition of segment for English Language Learners

: to divide (something) into parts

SEGMENT Defined for Kids

segment

noun seg·ment \ ˈseg-mənt \

Definition of segment for Students

1 :any of the parts into which a thing is divided or naturally separates

2 :a part cut off from a figure (as a circle) by means of a line or plane

3 :a part of a straight line included between two points

Medical Dictionary

segment

noun seg·ment \ ˈseg-mənt \

medical Definition of segment

:one of the constituent parts into which a body, entity, or quantity is divided or marked off by or as if by natural boundaries

bronchopulmonary segments

the affected segment of the colon was resected

segment

transitive verb seg·ment \ ˈseg-ˌment \

medical Definition of segment

1 :to cause to undergo segmentation by division or multiplication of cells

2 :to separate into segments

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Synonym Discussion of segment

segment

Definition of segment

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First Known Use of segment

SEGMENT Defined for English Language Learners

segment

Definition of segment for English Language Learners

segment

Definition of segment for English Language Learners

SEGMENT Defined for Kids

segment

Definition of segment for Students

Medical Dictionary

segment

medical Definition of segment

segment

medical Definition of segment

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