<B>profess, </B>transitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to claim to have; lay claim to; claim. <BR> <I>Ex. to profess innocence. He professed the greatest respect for the law. I don't profess to be an expert in chemistry.</I> (SYN) assume, pretend. <DD><B> 2. </B>to declare one's belief in. <BR> <I>Ex. Christians profess Christ and the Christian religion.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to declare openly. <BR> <I>Ex. He professed his loyalty to the United States. We profess Ourselves to be the slaves of chance (Shakespeare).</I> (SYN) own, aver, acknowledge. <DD><B> 4. </B>to have as one's profession or business. <BR> <I>Ex. to profess law.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>to receive or admit into a religious order. <DD><I>v.i. </I> to make a profession or professions. </DL>
<A NAME="professed">
<B>professed, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>avowed or acknowledged; openly declared. <BR> <I>Ex. a professed liar.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>alleged; pretended. <BR> <I>Ex. How hast thou the heart, Being ... my friend profess'd, To mangle me with that word "banished"? (Shakespeare).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>having taken the vows of, or been received into, a religious order. <BR> <I>Ex. a professed nun.</I> adv. <B>professedly.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="profession">
<B>profession, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>an occupation requiring special education, such as law, medicine, teaching, or the ministry. <DD><B> 2. </B>any calling or occupation by which a person habitually earns his living. <BR> <I>Ex. a librarian by profession, the acting profession.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>the people engaged in such an occupation. <BR> <I>Ex. The medical profession favors this law.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>the act of professing; open declaration. <BR> <I>Ex. I don't believe her profession of friendship for us.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>a declaration of belief in a religion. <DD><B> 6. </B>the religion or faith professed. <DD><B> 7. </B>taking the vows and entering a religious order. </DL>
<A NAME="professional">
<B>professional, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>of or having to do with a profession; appropriate to a profession. <BR> <I>Ex. Dr. Smith has a professional seriousness very unlike his ordinary joking manner.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>engaged in a profession. <BR> <I>Ex. A lawyer or a doctor is a professional person.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>following an occupation as one's profession or career. <BR> <I>Ex. a professional soldier, a professional writer.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>making a business or trade of something that others do for pleasure. <BR> <I>Ex. a professional musician, a professional ballplayer.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>undertaken or engaged in by professionals rather than amateurs. <BR> <I>Ex. a professional ball game.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>making a profession of something not properly regarded as a profession. <BR> <I>Ex. a professional busybody.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a person who makes a business or trade of something that others do for pleasure, such as singing or dancing. <BR> <I>Ex. Only one member of the band is a professional; the others are amateurs. The musician is a professional who tours the country.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a person engaged in a profession; professional man or woman. <BR> <I>Ex. The medical conference was attended by both laymen and professionals.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="professionalism">
<B>professionalism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>professional character, spirit, or methods. <BR> <I>Ex. The production is marked by an assured professionalism (Wall Street Journal).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>the standing, practice, or methods of a professional, as distinguished from those of an amateur. </DL>
<A NAME="professionalize">
<B>professionalize, </B>transitive verb, intransitive verb, <B>-ized,</B> <B>-izing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to make or become professional. noun <B>professionalization.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="professionally">
<B>professionally, </B>adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>in a professional manner. <DD><B> 2. </B>in professional matters; because of one's profession. <BR> <I>Ex. Do you wish to consult me professionally? (Mary E. Braddon).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="professor">
<B>professor, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a teacher of the highest rank in a college or university. <BR> <I>Ex. The English professor is popular among the students.</I> <DL COMPACT><DD> (Abbr:) Prof. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Informal.) <DD><B> a. </B>a teacher. <DD><B> b. </B>a person who claims special knowledge of or proficiency in any field. <BR> <I>Ex. The old professor tried to sell his snake oil at the fair but the crowd only laughed at his claims.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>a person who professes. <BR> <I>Ex. professors of various creeds. There is no error ... which has not had its professors (John Locke).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>a person who declares his belief in a religion. <DD><B> 5. </B>(U.S. Slang.) a piano player in a cheap saloon, theater, or brothel. </DL>
</DL>
<A NAME="professorate">
<B>professorate, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the office or term of service of a professor. <DD><B> 2. </B>a group of professors. </DL>
<A NAME="professorial">
<B>professorial, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of, having to do with, or characteristic of a professor. <BR> <I>Ex. [His] speeches are grave and professorial, not rabble-rousing (Harper's).</I> adv. <B>professorially.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="professoriate">
<B>professoriate</B> or <B>professoriat, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a group of professors. <DD><B> 2. </B>a professorship. </DL>
<A NAME="professorship">
<B>professorship, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the position or rank of a professor. <BR> <I>Ex. Most of the great American historians of the nineteenth century held no professorships (Atlantic).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="proffer">
<B>proffer, </B>verb, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> to offer for acceptance; present; tender. <BR> <I>Ex. We proffered regrets at having to leave so early.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> an offer made. <BR> <I>Ex. Her proffer of advice was accepted. Hoping that the enemy ... would make a proffer of peace (Edmund Burke).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="profibrinolysin">
<B>profibrinolysin, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a proenzyme in the blood from which fibrinolysin is formed by certain blood activators. </DL>
<A NAME="proficiency">
<B>proficiency, </B>noun, pl. <B>-cies.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the state or quality of being proficient; knowledge; skill; advanced state of expertness. <BR> <I>Ex. Don Geronimo had been educated in England ... which ... accounted for his proficiency in the English language (George H. Borrow).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="proficient">
<B>proficient, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> advanced in any art, science, or subject; skilled; expert. <BR> <I>Ex. She was very proficient in music.</I> (SYN) versed, qualified, adept, competent. <DD><I>noun </I> an expert. <BR> <I>Ex. He was a proficient in golf.</I> adv. <B>proficiently.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="profile">
<B>profile, </B>noun, verb, <B>-filed,</B> <B>-filing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a side view, especially of the human face. <BR> <I>Ex. In profile his long nose stuck out quite far.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>an outline. <BR> <I>Ex. The engineer gave a detailed profile of the project.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>a drawing of a transverse vertical section of a building, bridge, or other structure. <DD><B> 4. </B>a concise description of a person's abilities, personality, or career. <BR> <I>Ex. In a lengthy profile a few years ago, the Harvard Law Record called him "A scholar on the Bench" (New York Times).</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>(Psychology.) a diagram showing a person's abilities or traits. <DD><B> 6. </B>a diagram of collected data or measurements, as of a natural phenomenon or other scientific data. <BR> <I>Ex. If we took gravity readings all over the earth and corrected them to sea level, we would have a gravity profile of the geoid (Scientific American).</I> <DD><B> 7. </B>sharpness of outline or delineation; clarity of definition. <BR> <I>Ex. As a whole, his work lacks a little in profile, due largely to a certain neutralness in its melodic substance (Harold C. Schonberg).</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to draw a profile of. <DD><B> 2. </B>to write a profile of. <BR> <I>Ex. Who will The Observer profile next Sunday? (New Scientist).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="profiledrag">
<B>profile drag,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Aeronautics.) the part of the drag of an airfoil resulting from its shape and the skin friction. </DL>
<A NAME="profiler">
<B>profiler, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a writer of journalistic or literary profiles. <BR> <I>Ex. Lillian Ross, crack profiler for The New Yorker magazine, [was] in Switzerland working up a series on Charlie Chaplin (Newsweek).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a device for producing profiles of natural phenomena. <BR> <I>Ex. a seismic profiler. On the rig was a temperature profiler designed to obtain a continuous record of water temperature from the surface to the bottom as well as a detailed profile of the temperature gradients within the uppermost layer of sediment (Saturday Review).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="profit">
<B>profit, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>Often, <B>profits.</B> the gain from a business; what is left when the cost of goods and of carrying on the business is subtracted from the amount of money taken in. <BR> <I>Ex. The profits in this business are not large.</I> (SYN) revenue, returns, proceeds. <DD><B> 2. </B>the gain from any transaction. <BR> <I>Ex. to make a profit from the sale of stock.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>advantage; benefit; any gain resulting in mental or spiritual betterment. <BR> <I>Ex. What profit is there in worrying?</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to make a gain from a business; make a profit. <BR> <I>Ex. to profit handsomely from a good business deal.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to get advantage; gain; benefit. <BR> <I>Ex. A wise person profits by his mistakes.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Obsolete.) to make progress; advance. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to be an advantage or benefit to. <BR> <I>Ex. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? (Mark 8:36).</I> noun <B>profiter.</B> </DL>
