Context
noun
The situation, events, or information that are related to something and that help you to understand it.
It's easier to understand the meaning of the word if you read it in context.
Often appears as...
- read in context
- understand in context
noun
The text or speech that comes immediately before and after a particular phrase or piece of text and helps to explain its meaning.
In this context, the author's meaning becomes clear.
Often appears as...
- in this context
- out of context
noun
The reasons, background information, considerations that justify an action, decision, or policy.
In the context of the recent financial crisis, these rules were enacted.
Often appears as...
- in the context of
- context for a decision
Usage tips
Formal
noun
The situation, events, or information that are related to something and that help you to understand it.
It's easier to understand the meaning of the word if you read it in context.
Often appears as...
- read in context
- understand in context
noun
The text or speech that comes immediately before and after a particular phrase or piece of text and helps to explain its meaning.
In this context, the author's meaning becomes clear.
Often appears as...
- in this context
- out of context
noun
The reasons, background information, considerations that justify an action, decision, or policy.
In the context of the recent financial crisis, these rules were enacted.
Often appears as...
- in the context of
- context for a decision
Usage tips
Formal
Definition 1 of 3
Pro Tip 1/3Clarifies Meaning
Context helps you grasp the full meaning of words that might otherwise be confusing or ambiguous.
The word 'bark' means something different in the context of dogs versus trees.
Pro Tip 2/3Cultural Sensitivity
Be mindful that context can include cultural nuances that affect the interpretation of words or phrases.
The gesture is considered rude in the context of their culture.
Pro Tip 3/3Understanding Relationships
Context helps to understand the relationship between characters, events, and ideas in a text.
You'll understand their friendship better in the context of their shared history.
Pro Tip 1/3Clarifies Meaning
Context helps you grasp the full meaning of words that might otherwise be confusing or ambiguous.
The word 'bark' means something different in the context of dogs versus trees.
Pro Tip 2/3Cultural Sensitivity
Be mindful that context can include cultural nuances that affect the interpretation of words or phrases.
The gesture is considered rude in the context of their culture.
Pro Tip 3/3Understanding Relationships
Context helps to understand the relationship between characters, events, and ideas in a text.
You'll understand their friendship better in the context of their shared history.
Pro Tip 1/3Clarifies Meaning
Context helps you grasp the full meaning of words that might otherwise be confusing or ambiguous.
The word 'bark' means something different in the context of dogs versus trees.
Pro Tip 2/3Cultural Sensitivity
Be mindful that context can include cultural nuances that affect the interpretation of words or phrases.
The gesture is considered rude in the context of their culture.
Pro Tip 3/3Understanding Relationships
Context helps to understand the relationship between characters, events, and ideas in a text.
You'll understand their friendship better in the context of their shared history.
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Video examples
A different way to...
but in different ways depending on arrangement and cultural context. So it turns out that the wheel method is more than just a nifty way of visualizing complex rhythms. By freeing us from the tyranny of the bar line, we can visualize rhythm in terms of time, and a simple turn of the wheel can take us on a musical journey around the world.
Video examples
Watch the Total Solar...
and the truth is a lot of times when we think about the Eclipse and we see images of the Eclipse these are images that are taken through telescopes or taken through zoom cameras and we're really looking at the Sun and the moon with no context but part of the joy and the awe of in Eclipse is actually not
Video examples
The hidden meanings of...
yin and yang are not total opposites, they are relative to each other. Taoists believe that the universe is made up of energies, vibrations, and matter, which behave differently in different contexts. Something can be yin or yang depending on, well, depending on lots of things.
Video examples
Why is this painting so...
seemingly changing the scene from a simple depiction of court life to that of a royal portrait. And with this piece of information, we can begin to understand far more about the painting and why it has captivated viewers for centuries. First, there's the historical context.
Video examples
Does grammar matter? -...
At its best, prescriptivism is useful for informing people about the most common established patterns at a given point in time. This is important, not only for formal contexts, but it also makes communication easier between non-native speakers from different backgrounds.
Video examples
Jedidah Isler: How I...
Although the blazar system is rare, the process by which nature pulls in material via a disk, and then flings some of it out via a jet, is more common. We'll eventually zoom out of the blazar system to show its approximate relationship to the larger galactic context.
Video examples
How to choose your news...
information or context you might have missed and what others are saying about it. Today, we are more free than ever from the old media gatekeepers who used to control the flow of information. But with freedom comes the responsibility to curate our own experience
Video examples
How statistics can be...
Here, the hidden factor is the relative proportion of patients who arrive in good or poor health. Simpson's paradox isn't just a hypothetical scenario. It pops up from time to time in the real world, sometimes in important contexts.
Video examples
How fire shapes...
habitable well let's begin with fire among the ancient elements fire is the odd man out earth air water all are substances fire is a reaction it synthesizes its surroundings it takes its character from its context and that
Video examples
This Scientist Can Speak...
subjects to work with because you have no problem you know asking them questions in the in the context of a computerised task you can ask them about you know how they perceive the world how
Video examples
A different way to...
but in different ways depending on arrangement and cultural context. So it turns out that the wheel method is more than just a nifty way of visualizing complex rhythms. By freeing us from the tyranny of the bar line, we can visualize rhythm in terms of time, and a simple turn of the wheel can take us on a musical journey around the world.
Video examples
Watch the Total Solar...
and the truth is a lot of times when we think about the Eclipse and we see images of the Eclipse these are images that are taken through telescopes or taken through zoom cameras and we're really looking at the Sun and the moon with no context but part of the joy and the awe of in Eclipse is actually not
Video examples
The hidden meanings of...
yin and yang are not total opposites, they are relative to each other. Taoists believe that the universe is made up of energies, vibrations, and matter, which behave differently in different contexts. Something can be yin or yang depending on, well, depending on lots of things.
Video examples
Why is this painting so...
seemingly changing the scene from a simple depiction of court life to that of a royal portrait. And with this piece of information, we can begin to understand far more about the painting and why it has captivated viewers for centuries. First, there's the historical context.
Video examples
Does grammar matter? -...
At its best, prescriptivism is useful for informing people about the most common established patterns at a given point in time. This is important, not only for formal contexts, but it also makes communication easier between non-native speakers from different backgrounds.
Video examples
Jedidah Isler: How I...
Although the blazar system is rare, the process by which nature pulls in material via a disk, and then flings some of it out via a jet, is more common. We'll eventually zoom out of the blazar system to show its approximate relationship to the larger galactic context.
Video examples
How to choose your news...
information or context you might have missed and what others are saying about it. Today, we are more free than ever from the old media gatekeepers who used to control the flow of information. But with freedom comes the responsibility to curate our own experience
Video examples
How statistics can be...
Here, the hidden factor is the relative proportion of patients who arrive in good or poor health. Simpson's paradox isn't just a hypothetical scenario. It pops up from time to time in the real world, sometimes in important contexts.
Video examples
How fire shapes...
habitable well let's begin with fire among the ancient elements fire is the odd man out earth air water all are substances fire is a reaction it synthesizes its surroundings it takes its character from its context and that
Video examples
This Scientist Can Speak...
subjects to work with because you have no problem you know asking them questions in the in the context of a computerised task you can ask them about you know how they perceive the world how
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
Harper Reed
American Businessman
We were orbiting around the idea of intent and context. We would take the bus into work, and if you said, 'Here's a shirt you might like,' and I open it on my mobile phone, I'm not going to pull out my credit card and wallet. We thought, 'How does someone do this? An e-mail to yourself, or you try to remember?
Quote examples
Evan Spiegel
American Businessman
Online one day, you log in, and you realise, 'This is not me.' Everything you're posting, you're doing it in the context of everything you've posted before. Let's delete everything, save the stuff that's important, and then you only have to organise the one per cent that's worth keeping.
Quote examples
Tommy Lee Jones
American Actor
I don't need much of a character in my life. I've already got one; my family knows who I am, and I don't have a reason to make an impression on the world around me unless it's in a professional context. Acting is not a personal experience; it's a job.
Quote examples
Ethan Hawke
American Actor
If my kids are doing well, then my life is going pretty well. And if my kids aren't doing well, it doesn't matter how the other elements of my life are. It's kind of amazing to have a context like that. This is really wonderful.
Quote examples
G. Willow Wilson
American Writer
I tend to deal with characters who are sort of at that same point of wrestling with, 'Who am I going to be as an adult? What do I believe? How am I defining myself in the context of my culture and my peer groups, my family?
Quote examples
Wynton Marsalis
American Musician
As a jazz musician, you have individual power to create the sound. You also have a responsibility to function in the context of other people who have that power also.
Quote examples
Yael Stone
Australian Actress
Prison makes an interesting context for so many different characters to come together. You get to see what lines get drawn between people.
Quote examples
Hans-Ulrich Obrist
Swiss Critic
To keep art stimulating, it's important to open it up to new horizons, which includes showing it in unexpected contexts.
Quote examples
Zadie Smith
British Novelist
Without the balancing context of everyday life, all you have is the news, and news by its nature is generally bad.
Quote examples
Gordon B. Hinckley
American Clergyman
I do not fear truth. I welcome it. But I wish all of my facts to be in their proper context.
Quote examples
Harper Reed
American Businessman
We were orbiting around the idea of intent and context. We would take the bus into work, and if you said, 'Here's a shirt you might like,' and I open it on my mobile phone, I'm not going to pull out my credit card and wallet. We thought, 'How does someone do this? An e-mail to yourself, or you try to remember?
Quote examples
Evan Spiegel
American Businessman
Online one day, you log in, and you realise, 'This is not me.' Everything you're posting, you're doing it in the context of everything you've posted before. Let's delete everything, save the stuff that's important, and then you only have to organise the one per cent that's worth keeping.
Quote examples
Tommy Lee Jones
American Actor
I don't need much of a character in my life. I've already got one; my family knows who I am, and I don't have a reason to make an impression on the world around me unless it's in a professional context. Acting is not a personal experience; it's a job.
Quote examples
Ethan Hawke
American Actor
If my kids are doing well, then my life is going pretty well. And if my kids aren't doing well, it doesn't matter how the other elements of my life are. It's kind of amazing to have a context like that. This is really wonderful.
Quote examples
G. Willow Wilson
American Writer
I tend to deal with characters who are sort of at that same point of wrestling with, 'Who am I going to be as an adult? What do I believe? How am I defining myself in the context of my culture and my peer groups, my family?
Quote examples
Wynton Marsalis
American Musician
As a jazz musician, you have individual power to create the sound. You also have a responsibility to function in the context of other people who have that power also.
Quote examples
Yael Stone
Australian Actress
Prison makes an interesting context for so many different characters to come together. You get to see what lines get drawn between people.
Quote examples
Hans-Ulrich Obrist
Swiss Critic
To keep art stimulating, it's important to open it up to new horizons, which includes showing it in unexpected contexts.
Quote examples
Zadie Smith
British Novelist
Without the balancing context of everyday life, all you have is the news, and news by its nature is generally bad.
Quote examples
Gordon B. Hinckley
American Clergyman
I do not fear truth. I welcome it. But I wish all of my facts to be in their proper context.
Example 1 of 10
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