combinatorial

adjective

com·​bi·​na·​to·​ri·​al ˌkäm-bə-nə-ˈtȯr-ē-əl How to pronounce combinatorial (audio)
kəm-ˌbī-nə-,
-(ˌ)bi-
1
: of, relating to, or involving combinations
2
: of or relating to the arrangement of, operation on, and selection of discrete mathematical elements belonging to finite sets or making up geometric configurations
combinatorially
ˌkäm-bə-nə-ˈtȯr-ē-ə-lē How to pronounce combinatorial (audio)
kəm-ˌbī-nə-
-(ˌ)bi-
adverb

Examples of combinatorial in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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These types of problems are called ‘combinatorial explosion’ problems, where adding in just a few more inputs can massively increase the compute time. John Koetsier, Forbes, 25 Nov. 2024 By searching through the combinatorial set of possible arrangements of modular components, our method generates a functional, as-simple-as possible robotic device that is capable of tracking the input motion trajectories. Evan Ackerman, IEEE Spectrum, 6 July 2018 The combinatorial space for the yeast genome — natural or synthetic — is vast; exploring it and tweaking each genetic component individually to understand its purpose and context is impractically slow. Quanta Magazine, 4 Nov. 2024 The challenge, then, lies in selecting the best move amid this vast combinatorial complexity. The Physics Arxiv Blog, Discover Magazine, 28 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for combinatorial 

Word History

First Known Use

1818, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of combinatorial was in 1818

Dictionary Entries Near combinatorial

Cite this Entry

“Combinatorial.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/combinatorial. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.

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