(n.) The quality or state of being ambiguous; doubtfulness or uncertainty, particularly as to the signification of language, arising from its admitting of more than one meaning; an equivocal word or expression.
Example Sentences:
(1) Along the spectrum of loyalties lie multiple loyalties and ambiguous loyalties, and the latter, if unresolved, create moral ambiguities.
(2) This examination has proved an important help in the diagnosis of all the cases of sexual ambiguity.
(3) Exogenous activators of PKC stimulate insulin secretion from B cells, but attempts to define a physiological role for PKC by using inhibitors of this enzyme have produced ambiguous results.
(4) The aza analogue (RS)-3-hydroxy-2,5-pyrrolidinedione-3-acetic acid (6) of the five-membered citric anhydride (2) was prepared in the sequence citric acid----2-phenyl-1,3-dioxolan-4-one-5,5-diacetic acid (1)----citric acid beta-amide (3)----6 and used to resolve ambiguities in the mechanism of the citrate synthase reaction.
(5) Results obtained with this analog can be ambiguous, since 2-DOG can be phosphorylated by hexokinases of animal cells.
(6) Ultrasound has also proven useful in evaluating patients with ambiguous genitalia, amenorrhea and suspected PID and also is an effective means of localizing intrauterine contraceptive devices.
(7) Authors have previously published April 1988 a lecture where they criticize the bad denomination "passed coma" full of ambiguity for public mind, to which "brain death" ought to be preferred.
(8) There were, though, large omissions and ambiguities that will need to be filled in and clarified as polling day nears.
(9) "Prostatic acid phosphatase" is a term that has been used widely and ambiguously to refer to acid phosphatase, which 1) is elevated in the sera of patients with various diseases of the prostate, 2) is inhibited by one or more specific inhibitors, 3) attacks one or more specific substrates, 4) has certain unique antigenic properties, 5) is extracted from homogenates of prostate, and 6) is obtained from prostate secretions, etc.
(10) We have Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris coming to those platforms this December, and Tomb Raider: The Definitive Edition is available on PS4.” However, there is still some slight ambiguity about whether the deal is for Winter 2015 only.
(11) This ambiguity was resolved by using resealed ghosts, which are unable to incorporate oleic acid into phospholipids.
(12) This report describes a minicomputer-based translation system (TRANSOFT) that employs word order rearrangement followed by word-for-word translation and resolution of ambiguities based on context.
(13) Authors report a ring chromosome 18 (18 r) in a four year old boy, with low birth weight, retarded growth and development, microcephaly and plagiocephaly, horizontal nystagmus, ambiguous genitalia, clinodactyly of the fifth finger, distal axial triradius, whorls pattern in 8 fingers in dermatoglyphic.
(14) Membrane potential trajectories of 68 bulbar respiratory neurones from the peri-solitary and peri-ambigual areas of the brain-stem were recorded in anaesthetized cats to explore the synaptic influences of post-inspiratory neurones upon the medullary inspiratory network.
(15) As well, two-dimensional 15N-1H heteronuclear spectroscopy was used to resolve a number of ambiguities present in the homonuclear spectra due to resonance redundancies.
(16) The axon of the labeled bulbospinal neuron had axonal collaterals which were distributed within the region of the nucleus ambiguous of the ipsilateral medulla.
(17) Of the 406 tests there have been 85 positive, 296 negative and 25 ambiguous reports.
(18) In a second experiment schizophrenics were significantly different from the depressives in showing less inclination to select a metaphorical meaning to an ambiguous adjective in a sentence.
(19) Three-quarters of the sample was impaired on at least one of four discourse tests (knowing the alternate meanings of ambiguous words in context; getting the point of figurative or metaphoric expressions; bridging the inferential gaps between events in stereotyped social situations; and producing speech acts that express the apparent intentions of others).
(20) Yet, the apparent ambiguities of science confuse the courts, the juries, and the public.
Arcane
Definition:
(a.) Hidden; secret.
Example Sentences:
(1) Pointing out that “the army has its own fortune teller”, he sounds less than happy at the state of affairs: “The country is run by superstition.” Weerasethakul is in a relatively fortunate position, in that his arcane films are not exactly populist and don’t depend on the mainstream Thai film industry for funding, but he has become cast as a significant voice of dissent in a difficult time .
(2) The arcane nature of physics calls for some imagination when it comes to naming particles.
(3) Arcane though names such as Ro, La, Sm and Jo-1 may appear, much is now known about the intracellular targets of the antibodies; most are enzymes or particles active in DNA replication and the synthesis of RNA and protein.
(4) Milk texture talk quickly becomes arcane, with terms like frothing, stretching and the all-important microfoam.
(5) The arcane wiring when electricity came along, the subsequent clumsy rewiring; the cheap flat conversion in the 1960s; the constant saga of patch and mend from occupants who never have the money or vision to remake the whole thing from scratch - all this, and more, was paralleled on the WCML on an enormous scale.
(6) This partly explains the higher infection rate among Maasai livestock but the low human infection rate remains arcane and requires further study.
(7) "But the danger always is that the debate becomes very quickly polarised between one side which says this is the moment to rush headlong towards further integration, new treaties, new intergovernmental conferences, new arcane debates about EU powers, and another side that says this is the moment to unravel the whole thing.
(8) It's partly to do with the fact that kids are more sophisticated, especially linguistically, then they used to be, so to do a show that is clever and funny and uses arcane references but can play to adults and children is more possible now.
(9) Furthermore, it emphasizes method rather than arcane knowledge and illustrates the approaches to problems and the kinds of thinking that a liberal education should cultivate: the scientific method, analogic thinking, deductive reasoning, problem solving within constraints, and concern for aesthetic values.
(10) With his moral authority and charisma, the pope has helped reframe climate change from an arcane set of negotiations into an issue with sweeping moral implications.
(11) Even if some unease about the hiving off of public services prevails, maybe all those acronyms and contractual complexities made it too arcane to compete with broad brush concerns like equality and climate change.
(12) Nothing is too odd, too arcane, or too outre (I’ve not researched the tie-in adult sex-toy angle, but I’ll bet there is one) to have the Star Wars logo plastered across it.
(13) But while she has set herself such arcane formal constraints, much of the novel's appeal lies in the fact that it is a compulsive thriller.
(14) This is not some arcane dry and dusty subject,” Cameron said at his closing press conference.
(15) Among the problems in this area have been the lack of a theoretical base for taxonomic categories of behavior, overlapping categories, the arcane nature of many disciplinary taxonomies, and lack of rigorous operational definitions for measurements.
(16) Even more esoterically, it ran a specialist indie page: this when “indie” didn’t mean Oasis filling stadiums and the Arctic Monkeys breaking sales records, but music of an unbelievably arcane stripe.
(17) The immediate focus of the dispute is an arcane point of law.
(18) Partly inspired by the soundtracks to arcane horror movies, it's a meticulously constructed, cinematic work that moves from eerie paranoia to tentative optimism, painting vivid mental pictures as it goes.
(19) ARCANE's referential is based on conceptual slicing close to SNOMED's.
(20) Flash Boys follows the usual Lewis formula: find a scandalous situation that is too arcane for most people to comprehend; locate some smart guys (they are usually male) who have spotted the scam and plan to do something with or about it; and tell their story.