Meaning of system in English

system

noun

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/ˈsɪs.təm/ us

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio

/ˈsɪs.təm/

system noun (SET)

B1 [ C ]

a set of connected things or devices that operate together:

a central heating system

B1 [ C ]

a set of computer equipment and programs used together for a particular purpose:

The system keeps crashing and no one is able to figure out why.

C2 [ C ]

a set of organs or structures in the body that have a particular purpose:

the immune system

the nervous system

[ C ]

the way that the body works, especially the way that it digests food and passes out waste products:

A run in the morning is good for the system - it wakes the body up and gets everything going.

More examples

Hot water circulates through the heating system.
There appears to be a problem with the patient's respiratory system.
A heavy fall of snow had disrupted the city's transport system.
The accident was caused by the failure of the reactor's cooling system.
Drink a lot of water to flush the toxins out of your system.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Classifying and creating order

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Computer concepts

Substances & structures in the body

The body

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system noun (METHOD)

B2 [ C ]

a way of doing things:

We'll have to develop a better filing system.

Under this system, many people were prevented from voting.

The legal system operates very differently in the US and Britain.

B2 [ C ]

a particular method of counting, measuring, or weighing things:

the metric system of measuring and weighing

[ U ] approving

the intentional and organized use of a system:

There doesn't seem to be any system to the books on these shelves - they're certainly not in alphabetical order.

the system disapproving

unfair laws and rules that prevent people from being able to improve their situation:

He has his own ways of beating the system, making sure that he has good relationships with influential people.

More examples

After the trial, his family said they had lost all faith in the judicial system.
Pregnant women are exempt from dental charges under the current health system.
Do you understand the system of classification used in ornithology?
The present voting system distorts the wishes of the electorate.
The present tax system penalizes poor people.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Ways of achieving things

See more results »

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Classifying and creating order

Measuring & weighing

Rules & laws

Idiom

get something out of your system

(Definition of system from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

system | American Dictionary

system

noun [ C ]

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/ˈsɪs·təm/

system noun [C] (SET)

a set of connected items or devices that operate together:

the system of interstate highways

We’re having a new computer system installed.

In the body, a system is a set of organs or structures that have a particular job to do:

the digestive system

system noun [C] (METHOD)

a way of doing things; a method:

My assistant will explain the system for filing a medical claim.

Under the US legal system, an accused person is innocent until proven guilty.

A system is also a particular method of counting, measuring, or weighing things:

the metric system

(Definition of system from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

system | Business English

system

noun [ C ]

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/ˈsɪstəm/ us

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a particular set of actions for doing something:

They designed a system that tracks results.

a system for (doing) sth The bank has streamlined systems for switching accounts.

a system of (doing) sth The core of the fraud was a system of double billing.

a complaints/tax/trading system

The quota system limits the volumes of clothing that China can ship to the US.

a group of organizations that work together for a particular purpose, or have similar activities:

the criminal justice system

the legal/financial system

Countries with better banking systems should have easier access to money at lower interest rates than those that do not.

MEASURES

a particular method of counting, measuring, or weighing things:

the metric system

a set of connected machines, etc. that operate together:

They design and build solar electric systems.

We need to install a sprinkler system.

a set of computer equipment and programs used together for a particular purpose:

At the moment, the company spends around €1million a year on its IT systems.

I can't process the order right now because our systems are down.

You need a password to get onto the system.

Examples of system

system

Recent years have seen considerable progress in the development of chemical self-replicating systems.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Bilingual acquisition : criteria for establishing one vs. two systems in early syntactic development.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

They accept that legal systems may exist and that, if they do, their content may be wholly determinate.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Party-based systems create career incentives for the legislator to support the overall aims of the parties.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The 1859 law allowed the registration of haciendas and labour contracts, but the $.10 per contract charge acted as a disincentive to the system's use.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Despite the variety of systems, the objectives guiding these reforms have been rather similar.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In different countries and/or health systems, this may mean from national to regional or from regional to municipal.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

A consensus has emerged that sound management of health care systems makes a significant contribution to the international competitiveness of a country.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Few systems range over an entire twenty-point scale; in fact, the average range of party systems is 12.24 points.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Extremists of this view, called 'instrumentalists', believe that all or most knowledge productivity will increase provided the right information systems are implemented.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Moreover, it is desirable that agent-oriented development environments can support scalability and heterogeneity aspects of multi-agent systems.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

A balanced combination of declarative and imperative languages is desirable for implementing multi-agent systems.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

One is the difficulty with debugging different parts of multi-agent systems.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In this paper, we put forward the environment as a first-order abstraction in multiagent systems.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The data also raise questions about government stability in majoritarian and proportional systems.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

See all examples of system

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