SINCE 1828
transitional
adjective
tran·si·tion·al
| \ tran(t)-ˈsish-nəl
, tran(t)-ˈsizh-, tran-ˈzish-; tran(t)-ˈsi-shə-nᵊl, tran-ˈzi-, -zhə-\
, tran(t)-ˈsizh-, tran-ˈzish-; tran(t)-ˈsi-shə-nᵊl, tran-ˈzi-, -zhə-\
Definition of transitional
: marked by transition : involving, providing, or consisting of a passage, movement, or change from one state, condition, subject, place, etc., to another
a transitional passage in music They are often transitional areas between water environments and dry land, and are populated by many trees and plants that can put up with the occasional flood …— JoAnn Shroyer The social worlds of neighborhood and village are now less important as transitional zones between home and nonhome settings.— Theano S. Terkenli … turning into a civilian coup, that … established a transitional government and prepared the way for multi-party elections.— Larry Diamond … an animal about the size of a turkey that they contend was a flightless bird, a transitional figure between some carnivorous dinosaurs and modern birds.— John Noble Wilford
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The deal stipulates two transitional periods, one technical and one political. — Konstantin Testorides, The Seattle Times, "Macedonia’s name change – what does the country have to do?," 28 Jan. 2019 The answer is experimentation, and the street style set came out on the other end of the clouds with a range of transitional, covetable outerwear. — Brooke Bobb, Vogue, "The Best Fall Jackets, Straight From the Streets at New York Fashion Week," 14 Sep. 2018 New style: More homeowners are opting for transitional, contemporary or farmhouse design instead of modern or traditional. — Diane Cowen, Houston Chronicle, "Kitchen trends: Style going more contemporary," 23 Jan. 2018 Despite threats, slammed doors or complete opposition, Roca’s founder, Molly Baldwin, said her workers will continue over the next year to invite 100 young men to join the program’s educational, life skills and transitional employment services. — Yvonne Wenger, latimes.com, "Nonprofit group begins relentless pursuit of Baltimore's most dangerous young men — to change them," 4 July 2018 Has this become an entitlement of an expectation of a permanent state, or is this a transitional program to help people get back on their feet? — Greg Trotter, chicagotribune.com, "In Chicago, Trump’s ag secretary says pain from China trade fight ‘a temporary situation’," 26 June 2018 He was assigned to a transitional housing program for inmates in St. Louis. — Kaitlyn Schwers, kansascity, "Man led cops on a chase in a stolen dump truck, St. Louis police say. GPS did him in," 2 June 2018 Modern films are presented at 24 fps, so Stereo D ran the footage through computer software to smooth it out by creating digital transitional frames. — Peter Martin, Popular Mechanics, "This World War I Footage Was Smoothed and Colorized. And It’s Amazing.," 17 Dec. 2018 It's been a really transitional, transformational year for me. — Rachel Epstein, Marie Claire, "Lauren Jauregui Wants to Show You the Real Her," 25 Oct. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'transitional.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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