<B>informal, </B>adjective noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>not formal; not in the regular or prescribed manner. <BR> <I>Ex. informal proceedings.</I> (SYN) irregular, unofficial. <DD><B> 2. </B>done without ceremony; casual; comfortable; relaxed. <BR> <I>Ex. an informal party, informal clothes.</I> (SYN) unceremonious, unconventional, easy. <DD><B> 3. </B>used in everyday common talk but not used in formal speaking or writing; colloquial. Such an expression as <I>kids</I> for <I>children</I> is informal, as are <I>ad</I> for <I>advertisement, funny</I> for <I>strange,</I> and <I>fire</I> for <I>dismiss.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> a dance at which formal dress is not required. adv. <B>informally.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="informality">
<B>informality, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ties.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the quality or fact of being informal; lack of ceremony. <DD><B> 2. </B>an informal act or behavior. </DL>
<A NAME="informalvote">
<B>informal vote,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (in Australia and New Zealand) a vote that is not properly cast; an invalid vote. </DL>
<A NAME="informant">
<B>informant, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person who gives information to another. <BR> <I>Ex. I found out what happened from my informant, who saw it happen. Those came who wished to gain information on a subject new to them, from informants whom they ... regarded as authorities (Cardinal Newman).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a native speaker of a language or dialect who repeats words, phrases, or other elements of a language, for linguistic analysis or for imitation in language learning. </DL>
<A NAME="informapauperis">
<B>in forma pauperis,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Latin.) as a pauper;having recourse to laws or relief for paupers. </DL>
<B>information, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>knowledge given or received of some fact or circumstance; news. <BR> <I>Ex. We have just received information of the astronauts' safe landing. Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it (Samuel Johnson).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>things known; facts. <BR> <I>Ex. A dictionary contains much information about words.</I> (SYN) data. <DD><B> 3. </B>the act of telling or fact of being told something; an informing. <BR> <I>Ex. A guidebook is for the information of travelers.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>a person or office whose duty is to answer questions. <DD><B> 5. </B>an accusation or complaint against a person, such as one sworn to before a magistrate or presented by a public official. <DD><B> 6. </B>(Law.) a charge instituting criminal proceedings without a formal indictment. <DD><B> 7. </B>any message or part of a message in coded form assembled by or fed to a computer. </DL>
<A NAME="informational">
<B>informational, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having to do with or giving information; instructive. <BR> <I>Ex. A library's reference department provides informational services.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="informationhighway">
<B>information highway</B> or <B>information superhighway,</B> <B>=data highway.</B></DL>
<A NAME="informationretrieval">
<B>information retrieval,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the methods and procedures for recovering specific information from a central storage area. </DL>
<A NAME="informationscience">
<B>information science,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the study of the means by which information is collected, processed, classified, and transmitted, especially through computers and other automatic equipment. <BR> <I>Ex. Information science ... is concerned with devising means for providing more efficient access to documents and improving the dissemination of information (Harold Borko).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="informationtechnology">
<B>Information technology,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the application of computers and techniques of using computers to the handling of masses of data. </DL>
<A NAME="informationtheory">
<B>information theory,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the branch of science that deals with the quality and characteristics of transmitted information, especially by studying or measuring the information content of messages and the factors that interfere with the transmission of information; communication theory. Information theory is used especially to improve the efficiency of communication systems such as telephone, telegraph, television, and radar. </DL>
<A NAME="informative">
<B>informative, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> giving information; instructive. <BR> <I>Ex. This class trip to see how a newspaper is printed was very informative.</I> adv. <B>informatively.</B> noun <B>informativeness.</B> </DL>
<B>informatory double,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a double in bridge intended to give information to one's partner, with further bidding indicated. </DL>
<A NAME="informed">
<B>informed, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having knowledge or information; instructed; educated. <BR> <I>Ex. ... known in the best informed circles in London (Macaulay).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="informedconsent">
<B>informed consent,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> consent given by a patient for an operation or medical experiment with an understanding of what is involved. </DL>
<A NAME="informer">
<B>informer, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person who tells authorities of violations of the law; person who informs on another. <BR> <I>Ex. An informer told the police that the store was selling stolen goods.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=informant.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="informercial">
<B>informercial, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) a television program featuring demonstrations or discussions of the sponsor's products or services. </DL>
<A NAME="informidable">
<B>informidable, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> not formidable; not to be dreaded. </DL>
<A NAME="infortune">
<B>infortune, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>(Astrology.) a planet or aspect of evil influence, especially Saturn or Mars. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Obsolete.) misfortune. </DL>
<A NAME="infotainment">
<B>infotainment, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) television or other entertainment based on or including factual information. <BR> <I>Ex. The airwaves are now flooded with syndicated "infotainment" shows that give TV viewers ... peeks at the public and private lives of their favorite celebrities (Newsweek).</I> </DL>
<B>infra-,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (prefix.) below; beneath; beyond, as in <I>infrahuman, infrasonic, infrared.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="infracostal">
<B>infracostal, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> located beneath the ribs. <BR> <I>Ex. infracostal muscles.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="infract">
<B>infract, </B>transitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> to break (a law or obligation); violate. noun <B>infractor.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="infraction">
<B>infraction, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act of breaking a law or obligation; violation. <BR> <I>Ex. Reckless driving is an infraction of the law.</I> (SYN) infringement. <DD><B> 2. </B>a bone fracture in which parts remain in position. </DL>
<A NAME="infradian">
<B>infradian, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with biological rhythms or cycles that recur less than once per day. </DL>
<A NAME="infradig">
<B>infra dig,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) undignified. <BR> <I>Ex. Not only bad form--strictly infra dig (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<B>infrahuman, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>(of animals) beneath man in development. <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=subhuman.</B> <DD><I>noun </I> an infrahumancreature. </DL>
<A NAME="infralabial">
<B>infralabial, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> below the lips. <DD><I>noun </I> one of the horny plates covering the lower lip in snakes and lizards. </DL>
<A NAME="infralapsarian">
<B>infralapsarian, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Theology.) <DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with infralapsarianism or its followers. <DD><I>noun </I> a believer in the doctrine of infralapsarianism. </DL>
<A NAME="infralapsarianism">
<B>infralapsarianism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Theology.) the doctrine that God decreed the division of mankind into the elect and the damned after the Fall and not from all eternity; sublapsarianism. </DL>
<A NAME="inframedianzone">
<B>inframedian zone,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> those parts of the bottom of the ocean that are 300 to 600 feet below the surface. </DL>
<A NAME="infrangibility">
<B>infrangibility, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the quality of being infrangible. </DL>
<A NAME="infrangible">
<B>infrangible, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>that cannot be broken or separated into parts; unbreakable. <BR> <I>Ex. For centuries the atom was regarded as infrangible.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>that cannot be infringed; inviolable. <BR> <I>Ex. the infrangible laws of nature.</I> noun <B>infrangibleness.</B> adv. <B>infrangibly.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="infraorbital">
<B>infraorbital, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> suborbital. <BR> <I>Ex. an infraorbital gland.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="infrared">
<B>infrared, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> of the invisible part of the spectrum, whose rays have wave lengths longer than those of the red part of the visible spectrum and shorter than those of microwaves. Most of the heat from sunlight, incandescent lamps, carbon arcs, and resistance wires is from infrared rays. <DD><I>noun </I> the infrared part of the spectrum. </DL>
<A NAME="infraredastronomy">
<B>infrared astronomy,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the branch of astronomy that utilizes infrared rays to detect nebulae and stars otherwise invisible. </DL>
<A NAME="infrareddetector">
<B>infrared detector,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a device sensitive to infrared radiation, used in such varying applications as guided-missile tracking and navigation and high-altitude aerial mapping. </DL>
<A NAME="infraredradiation">
<B>infrared radiation,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> electromagnetic radiation with wave lengths longer than those of the red part of the visible spectrum. </DL>
<A NAME="infrascope">
<B>infrascope, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an instrument for observing and measuring infrared radiation. </DL>
<A NAME="infrasonic">
<B>infrasonic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having a frequency below the audible range. </DL>
<A NAME="infrasonics">
<B>infrasonics, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the study of sound waves having a frequency below the audible range (less than 10 vibrations a second). </DL>
