What's the difference between actual and specific?

Actual


Definition:

  • (a.) Involving or comprising action; active.
  • (a.) Existing in act or reality; really acted or acting; in fact; real; -- opposed to potential, possible, virtual, speculative, conceivable, theoretical, or nominal; as, the actual cost of goods; the actual case under discussion.
  • (a.) In action at the time being; now exiting; present; as the actual situation of the country.
  • (n.) Something actually received; real, as distinct from estimated, receipts.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) I'm not sure Tolstoy ever worked out how he actually felt about love and desire, or how he should feel about it.
  • (2) For viewers in the US, you get the worst possible in-game managerial interview in Mike Matheny, one that's so bad, it's actually great!
  • (3) The blockade of H2 receptors is the primary action of these drugs; however, they possess also secondary actions which may represent untoward effects but in some cases may be actually useful (increase in prostaglandin synthesis, inhibition of LTB4 synthesis, etc.)
  • (4) (Predictive value positive refers to the proportion of all people identified who actually have the disease.)
  • (5) The number of gastrin-immunoreactive cells actually decreases just prior to weaning but then increases at and after, weaning.
  • (6) I usually use them as a rag with which to clean the toilet but I didn’t have anything else to wear today because I’m so fat.” While this exchange will sound baffling to outsiders, to Brits it actually sounds like this: “You like my dress?
  • (7) Specifically, we apply techniques of data preprocessing, orthogonality constraints, and validation of solutions in a complete TC analysis, for the first time using actual MEP data.
  • (8) In the process, the DfE's definition of extremism has shifted from actual bomb-throwers to religious conservatives.
  • (9) To understand the reason for the opposite effect of the molar ratio observed at the middle of and at four residues away from the lysine-rich sequence, actual cross-linked residue(s) was (were) determined by subjecting cross-linked product to a protein sequencer.
  • (10) Cadavers have a multitude of possible uses--from the harvesting of organs, to medical education, to automotive safety testing--and yet their actual utilization arouses profound aversion no matter how altruistic and beneficial the motivation.
  • (11) The deep green people who have an issue with the language of natural capital are actually making the same jump from value to commodification that they state that they don’t want ... They’ve equated one with the other,” he says.
  • (12) "The value the public place on the BBC is actually rising," said Lyons, citing research carried out by the BBC Trust earlier this year.
  • (13) Although less growth occurred with limited glucose, M protein of high specific activity was produced with an actual increase in acid-extractable M protein during the stationary phase of growth.
  • (14) Don't we by chance come across this reciprocal spiral perspective when two people distrust one another without actually showing it?
  • (15) The level of several host-cell polyadenylated RNAs detected as cDNA clones (class 3 transcripts) were unchanged 8 hours after HSV-2 infection, and other cellular transcripts (class 2) actually accumulated at postinfection.
  • (16) The first is that the supposed exaggerated winter birthrate among process schizophrenics actually represents a reduction in spring-fall births caused by prenatal exposure to infectious diseases during the preceding winter--i.e., a high prenatal death rate in process preschizophrenic fetuses.
  • (17) Can somebody who is not a billionaire, who stands for working families, actually win an election into which billionaires are pouring millions of dollars?” Naming prominent and controversial rightwing donors, he said: “It is not just Hillary, it is the Koch brothers, it is Sheldon Adelson.” Stephanopoulos seized the moment, asking: “Are you lumping her in with them?” Choosing to refer to the 2010 supreme court decision that removed limits on corporate political donations, rather than address the question directly, Sanders replied: “What I am saying is that I get very frightened about the future of American democracy when this becomes a battle between billionaires.
  • (18) In these systems, follicular lymphomas are subclassified by estimation of the different cell populations without the actual counting of cells.
  • (19) Estimates of the number of alcoholics in New Zealand indicate that a highly selected minority actually receive treatment for their alcoholism.
  • (20) The interresponse-time reinforcement contingencies inherent in these schedules may actually mask the effects of overall reinforcement rate; thus differences in response rate as a function of reinforcement rate when interresponse-time reinforcement is eliminated may be underestimated.

Specific


Definition:

  • (a.) Of or pertaining to a species; characterizing or constituting a species; possessing the peculiar property or properties of a thing which constitute its species, and distinguish it from other things; as, the specific form of an animal or a plant; the specific qualities of a drug; the specific distinction between virtue and vice.
  • (a.) Specifying; definite, or making definite; limited; precise; discriminating; as, a specific statement.
  • (a.) Exerting a peculiar influence over any part of the body; preventing or curing disease by a peculiar adaption, and not on general principles; as, quinine is a specific medicine in cases of malaria.
  • (n.) A specific remedy. See Specific, a., 3.
  • (a.) Anything having peculiar adaption to the purpose to which it is applied.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Comparison of the S100 alpha-binding protein profiles in fast- and slow-twitch fibers of various species revealed few, if any, species- or fiber type-specific S100 binding proteins.
  • (2) Unfortunately, due to confidentiality clauses that have been imposed on us by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, we are unable to provide our full names and … titles … However, we believe the evidence that will be submitted will validate the statements that we are making in this submission.” The submission detailed specific allegations – including names and dates – of sexual abuse of child detainees, violence and bullying of children, suicide attempts by children and medical neglect.
  • (3) Anti-Leu 7 could not be considered as a specific marker for oligodendroglioma.
  • (4) Five probes of high specificity to individual chromosomes (chromosomes 3, 11, 17, 18 and X) were hybridized in situ to metaphase chromosomes of different individuals.
  • (5) The nuclear origin of the Ha antigen was confirmed by the speckled nuclear immunofluorescence staining pattern given by purified antibody to Ha obtained from a specific immune precipitate.
  • (6) The role of Ca2+ in cell agglutination may be either to activate the cell-surface dextran receptor or to form specific intercellular Ca2+ bridges.
  • (7) The Cole-Moore effect, which was found here only under a specific set of conditions, thus may be a special case rather than the general property of the membrane.
  • (8) Although solely nociresponsive neurons are clearly likely to fill a role in the processing and signalling of pain in the conscious central nervous system, the way in which such useful specificity could be conveyed by multireceptive neurons is difficult to appreciate.
  • (9) On the other hand, after exposure to BrdUrd, neuron specific enolase decreased in NB-1 and SK-N-DZ and increased in GOTO.
  • (10) Most of the radioactivity in spleen cells from these rats were associated with antigen-reactive cells which formed rosettes specifically with HO erythrocytes.
  • (11) The origins of aging of higher forms of life, particularly humans, is presented as the consequence of an evolved balance between 4 specific kinds of dysfunction-producing events and 4 kinds of evolved counteracting effects in long-lived forms.
  • (12) The specific activities of extracts from cells grown under phototrophic and aerobic conditions were similar and not affected by the concentration of iron in the growth media.
  • (13) Proliferation assays using F3 showed that 15 (14 CD4+ and 1 CD8+) of the 18 isolated clones were specific for T. gondii.
  • (14) We have developed a new procedure for the rapid preparation of undegraded total RNA from cultured cells for specific quantitation by dot blotting analysis.
  • (15) Further studies are required to elucidate specific roles of the steroid-induced proteins in the effects of glucocorticoids on HTM and HS cells.
  • (16) In addition, the fact that microheterogeneity may occur without limit in the mannans of the strains suggests that antibodies with unlimited diverse specificities are produced directed against these antigenic varieties as well.
  • (17) Four other independent LCMV-GP2(275-289) specific H-2Db-restricted CTL clones also expressed V alpha 4 and V beta 10 gene elements.
  • (18) Training in social skills specific to fostering intimacy is suggested as a therapeutic step, and modifications to the social support measure for future use discussed.
  • (19) When compared with self-reported exposures, the sensitivity of both job-exposure matrices was low (on average, below 0.51), while the specificity was generally high (on average, above 0.90).
  • (20) The specific limited trypsinolysis of bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase (T7RP) was performed in the presence of various components of the polymerase reaction and some GTP-analogs--irreversible inhibitors of the enzyme.