procedural

1 of 2

adjective

pro·​ce·​dur·​al prə-ˈsē-jə-rəl How to pronounce procedural (audio)
-ˈsēj-rəl
: of or relating to procedure
especially : of or relating to the procedure used by courts or other bodies administering substantive law
procedurally adverb

procedural

2 of 2

noun

: a realist crime novel, film, or television drama with a specific focus
a courtroom procedural
especially : police procedural

Examples of procedural in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Adjective
Still, this spending plan is going to be done under the cover of a procedural trick that both parties have used in the past to get things across the finish line with a bare majority, meaning Senate Republicans don’t need a single Democratic vote to get this done. Philip Elliott, TIME, 14 Feb. 2025 The streamer has picked up a second season of The Pitt, a medical procedural set in the emergency room of a Pittsburgh hospital. Rick Porter, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Feb. 2025
Noun
Rounding out the Top 10 streaming originals for the week of Jan. 20 were Netflix’s XO Kitty, Peacock’s The Traitors, Prime Video’s Beast Games, Netflix’s Virgin River and the chart debut of Prime Video’s half-hour procedural On Call (297 million minutes viewed across eight episodes). Matt Webb Mitovich, TVLine, 20 Feb. 2025 Netflix has set April 3 as premiere date for Pulse, its first English-language medical procedural. Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 18 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for procedural

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1876, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1963, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of procedural was in 1876

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Cite this Entry

“Procedural.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/procedural. Accessed 27 Feb. 2025.

Medical Definition

procedural

adjective
pro·​ce·​dur·​al prə-ˈsēj-(ə-)rəl How to pronounce procedural (audio)
: relating to or comprising memory or knowledge concerned with how to manipulate symbols, concepts, and rules to accomplish a task or solve a problem compare declarative

Legal Definition

procedural

adjective
pro·​ce·​dur·​al prə-ˈsē-jə-rəl How to pronounce procedural (audio)
: of or relating to procedure
sentence reversed as result of procedural error in sentencingNational Law Journal
compare substantive
procedurally adverb

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