(a.) Broken off; very steep, or craggy, as rocks, precipices, banks; precipitous; steep; as, abrupt places.
(a.) Without notice to prepare the mind for the event; sudden; hasty; unceremonious.
(a.) Having sudden transitions from one subject to another; unconnected.
(a.) Suddenly terminating, as if cut off.
(n.) An abrupt place.
(v. t.) To tear off or asunder.
Example Sentences:
(1) These two types of transfer functions are appropriate to explain the transition to anaerobic metabolism (anaerobic threshold), with a hyperbolic transfer characteristic representing a graded transition; and a sigmoid transfer characteristic representing an abrupt transition.
(2) Abruptly changing cows from one feeding system to another did not influence milk yield, milk composition, or body weight gain.
(3) Interphase death thus involves a discrete, abrupt transition from the normal state and is not merely the consequence of progressive and degenerative changes.
(4) NPR reported that investigators have not found telltale signs associated with Islamist radicalization , such as a change in mosques or abrupt shifts in behavior or family associations.
(5) Echocardiographic findings included an abrupt midsystolic, posterior motion (greater than 3 mm beyond the CD line) in five patients, multiple sequence echoes in six, and posterior coaptation of the mitral valve near the left atrial wall in six.
(6) 1) The incidence of premature rupture of the membranes (PROM), threatened premature delivery, toxemia and abruption placentae were 40.6, 36.4, 7.8 and 3.0%, respectively.
(7) The present report details an unusual patient with "occult temporal arteritis" who sustained abrupt monocular visual loss and subsequent ipsilateral ophthalmoplegia involving all functions of the oculomotor nerve.
(8) The stiffness of the fibre first rose abruptly in response to stretch and then started to decrease linearly while the stretch went on; after the completion of stretch the stiffness decreased towards a steady value which was equal to that during the isometric tetanus at the same sarcomere length, indicating that the enhancement of isometric force is associated with decreased stiffness.
(9) We conclude that CJD-related neuropathological phenomena do not accumulate gradually through the incubation period but develop relatively abruptly and in complete form.
(10) It inherited an economy that was growing quite strongly but activity came to an abrupt halt last autumn and has flatlined ever since.
(11) An abrupt decrease of the liver glycogen was found as well as a negligible rise of the blood sugar.
(12) Abrupt withdrawal jumping behavior in morphine-dependent mice is accompanied by a decrease in brain dopamine turnover and an increase in brain dopamine level which parallel strain differences in jumping incidence.
(13) In the active phase all the patients exhibited an abrupt increase in the activity of alkaline and acid phosphatase in blood neutrophils, a drop in the level of CP (in 69%), a rise in the activity of MP (in 32%); pyrogenal did not induce any capacity for restoring HCT (in 44%).
(14) During the development of the PM, all five RNAs exhibited the same schedule of accumulation, appearing de novo, or increasing abruptly just before PM ingression, and remaining at relatively high levels thereafter.
(15) In each case, the surgical procedure was nearly complete when an abrupt and persistent loss of SSEPs occurred.
(16) Following a midcollicular transection the paroxysmal bulbar activity abruptly disappeared.
(17) These channels underlie the graded active responses that can be elicited at the offset of abrupt hyperpolarizing and depolarizing intracellular current pulses.
(18) The main response characteristics are an immediate motor 'paralysis' (prolonged and generalized immobility), unresponsiveness, and abrupt and profound bradycardia.
(19) LAD to LCCA collaterals serve as functionally significant bidirectional perfusion conduits, and monitoring of collateral perfusion development is practical by measuring the step reduction in LCCA flow upon abrupt release of an LAD occlusion.
(20) Using concurrent videoendoscopy and manometry, glottal and upper esophageal sphincter (UES) responses to abrupt esophageal distention by air injection (10-60 mL) and balloon distention (1.5, 2.0, and 2.5 cm) were recorded simultaneously.
Offhand
Definition:
(a.) Instant; ready; extemporaneous; as, an offhand speech; offhand excuses.
(adv.) In an offhand manner; as, he replied offhand.
Example Sentences:
(1) Victims have told the charity of offhand and dismissive reactions from police, and am impression that crimes are less serious if they are committed against a disabled person.
(2) As a result, there exists a tendency to dismiss almost offhandedly the entire concept of using material incentives to further contraceptive practice before any have been adequately tried.
(3) The list of films from the last couple years is long and includes The International , where the enemy is a bank, to comedies such as The Other Guys and Despicable Me where offhand jokes skewer banks and bankers even in children's films.
(4) He initially aspired to a career in medicine but an offhand comment from his year 8 teacher changed that.
(5) Turkish police used teargas, plastic bullets and water cannon to disperse hundreds of demonstrators who gathered on Friday at the scene of the country's worst industrial accident to protest the country's dismal work safety record, and the prime minister's apparently offhand attitude towards victims of the catastrophe.
(6) In person he's quite offhand, an odd mixture of shy and intensely self-assured, and with his stocky build and salt-and-pepper beard he conveys the impression of a very clever badger, burrowing away in the undergrowth of economic detail, ready to give quite a sharp bite if you get in his way.
(7) I do realize that some of my offhanded attempts at sarcasm and at humor were not as witty as they were intended to be, and were actually insensitive and even offensive.” Despite Wildstein’s guilty plea, Christie has said he is unconcerned.
(8) Unfortunately, offhand and casual comments relating to class prejudice and snobbery are very common.
(9) While attempting to rally support for US bombing of Syrian president Bashar Assad for his chemical-weapons use, Kerry saw his offhand musing about Assad giving up his weapons stockpiles turned into a Russian diplomatic coup that allowed Assad to avoid attack and remain in power.
(10) A guilty person it wouldn’t be as much of an issue to me, but on the offhand chance that somebody wasn’t, I would never take that chance with my life,” he said.
(11) I guess I'd thought about it when I was younger, and I said, in an offhand way, that I would do it somewhere down the road.
(12) These results suggest that the use of S concentration measurements may serve to be an effective tool for a simple, offhand evaluation of keratinization.
(13) The only hope police have is changing allegiances from associates of the gang or ex-girlfriends who may have witnessed and perhaps recorded on a mobile phone someone's confession or offhand remark.
(14) "The president made an offhand remark making fun of his own bowling that was in no way intended to disparage the Special Olympics," he said.
(15) In their offhand way, they celebrate the man who was, by his own account, a stranger in a strange land.
(16) Trump is prone to mentioning NBC executives by name; Paul made offhand references to law school professors, from the conservative iconoclast Randy Barnett to the liberal civil rights activist Michelle Alexander .
(17) At some point she offhandedly told me that she had found out that once a month, on this particular night, the pub we were going to had a “gay night”.
(18) With the current state of our knowledge regarding uses, hazards, and dangers, the cavalier offhanded attitude which in the past has all too frequently characterized oxygen use in the premature is no longer acceptable.
(19) He later told Entertainment Weekly that while his promises initially manifested as an "offhand joke, a spur of the moment 140 characters" and was "more of a means to get the issue out there, that it is rude to text during movies," he was remained determined to stick to his guns.
(20) She made an offhand inquiry to her insurance company and was floored to learn that her policy – which she purchased as an individual – wouldn’t offer her any maternity coverage.