(n.) The act of differing; the state or measure of being different or unlike; distinction; dissimilarity; unlikeness; variation; as, a difference of quality in paper; a difference in degrees of heat, or of light; what is the difference between the innocent and the guilty?
(n.) Disagreement in opinion; dissension; controversy; quarrel; hence, cause of dissension; matter in controversy.
(n.) That by which one thing differs from another; that which distinguishes or causes to differ; mark of distinction; characteristic quality; specific attribute.
(n.) Choice; preference.
(n.) An addition to a coat of arms to distinguish the bearings of two persons, which would otherwise be the same. See Augmentation, and Marks of cadency, under Cadency.
(n.) The quality or attribute which is added to those of the genus to constitute a species; a differentia.
(n.) The quantity by which one quantity differs from another, or the remainder left after subtracting the one from the other.
(v. t.) To cause to differ; to make different; to mark as different; to distinguish.
Example Sentences:
(1) All transplants were performed using standard techniques, the operation for the two groups differing only as described above.
(2) This study was undertaken to determine whether the survival of Hispanic patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck was different from that of Anglo-American patients.
(3) Patients with papillary carcinoma with a good cell-mediated immune response occurred with much lower infiltration of the tumor boundary with lymphocyte whereas the follicular carcinoma less cell-mediated immunity was associated with dense lymphocytic infiltration, suggesting the biological relevance of lymphocytic infiltration may be different for the two histologic variants.
(4) Spectral analysis of spontaneous heart rate fluctuations, a powerful noninvasive tool for quantifying autonomic nervous system activity, was assessed in Xenopus Laevis, intact or spinalized, at different temperatures and by use of pharmacological tools.
(5) Age difference did not affect the mean dose-effect response.
(6) The prenatal risk determined by smoking pregnant woman was studied by a fetal electrocardiogram at different gestational ages.
(7) Although the mean values for all hemodynamic variables between the two placebo periods were minimally changed, the differences in individual patients were striking.
(8) Phospholipid methylation in human EGMs is distinctly different from that in rat EGMs (Hirata and Axelrod 1980) in that the human activity is not Mg++-dependent, and apparent methyltransferase I activity is located in the external membrane surface.
(9) The high amino acid levels in the cells suggest that these cells act as inter-organ transporters and reservoirs of amino acids, they have a different role in their handling and metabolism from those of mammals.
(10) The outward currents are sensitive to TEA and their reversal potentials differ.
(11) During control, no significant difference between systolic fluctuation (delta Pa) and pleural swings (delta Ppl) was found.
(12) This difference was not due to ATPase activity in the assay.
(13) No differences between the two substances were observed with respect to side effects and general tolerability.
(14) 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.
(15) The cross sectional area of the aortic lumen was gradually decreased while the length of the stenotic lesion gradually increased by using strips with different width.
(16) For male schizophrenics, all symptom differences disappeared except one; blacks were more frequently asocial.
(17) Between 22 HLA-identical siblings and 16 two-haplotype different siblings, a significant difference in concordance of reactions for the B-cell groups was noted.
(18) It would be fascinating to see if greater local government involvement in running the NHS in places such as Manchester leads over the longer term to a noticeable difference in the financial outlook.
(19) Snooker, which became and remains a fixture in the BBC2 schedules, was chosen for showing because it is the sport in which different shades are most significant.
(20) Would people feel differently about it if, for instance, it happened on Boxing Day or Christmas Eve?
Diffidence
Definition:
(n.) The state of being diffident; distrust; want of confidence; doubt of the power, ability, or disposition of others.
(n.) Distrust of one's self or one's own powers; lack of self-reliance; modesty; modest reserve; bashfulness.
Example Sentences:
(1) The Observer of the mid-1950s resembled nothing so much as a giant seminar conducted by the soft-spoken and diffident, yet steely, figure of David Astor.
(2) The main factor, however, is presumably not primness or diffidence but the chart's timeframe.
(3) Physically, he has a sort of wiry poise, often standing on the balls of his feet, but there is also something diffident, almost shyly polite, about him.
(4) In conversation, he is a curious mix of openness and a sweet, faintly diffident shyness.
(5) Diffident technically, she none the less doggedly pursued the detail of the execution of her scenery and costumes: she got what she needed.
(6) Wouldn't we rather our film writers be morally engaged viewers rather than diffident aesthetes?
(7) She too is a sceptic, but has been drawn to watch diffident Corbyn – potentially her future leader.
(8) His maiden speech came on his second day as an MP, in the debate on the address – intervening, he suggested improbably, with feelings of diffidence: "I am convinced that the key to all our hopes and aspirations in the field of economic activity lies in the maintenance and improvement of industrial relationships," he said.
(9) They were difficult because of the language barrier, which required exclusive use of interpreters, and because of the diffidence of the women themselves, especially in discussing matters of sex and childbearing.
(10) He is an odd, diffident sort of ambassador, spreading the message about "the Finnish miracle" but not really believing in the data that supposedly proves that it works.
(11) It stars Tom Hollander as a diffident, gaffe-prone British minister who is packed off to Washington DC, where he becomes a pawn in the political opposition to the war.
(12) And soon he was among them, grinning his diffident chipmunk smile, with his wife, a striking vision in white and red, beside him.
(13) A magnet for media coverage around the world thanks to his entrepreneurial success and love of a photo opportunity, Branson can be surprisingly diffident in person.
(14) He was too nervous – petrified before a big case, and diffident about his own abilities.
(15) At 43, he still looked boyish, with his questioning eyes, a thatch of hair and diffident mumbles.
(16) The media glamourised professional women who decided to have children while pursuing demanding careers, and warned women who put off having children that they would regret their diffidence later.
(17) Like Henry, whom Wenger signed as a diffident winger from Juventus in his early twenties in 1999, Welbeck has arrived at Arsenal after doing more running than scoring at Manchester United with the invitation to develop in a more favoured central attacking role.
(18) That diffidence is evident on screen, in Mia's core of vulnerability, the lonely anguish she camouflages with violence and filthy language.
(19) The man whose motto is a diffident "just messin' about" talks with unguarded passion about the process of music-making.
(20) In 1991, Gavin Millar filmed Call For The Dead's successor A Murder Of Quality, with Denholm Elliott as Smiley, his nervous diffidence dovetailing perfectly with the character.