process meaning

Noun: process  prowses

1. A particular course of action intended to achieve a result
   "it was a process of trial and error"
   - procedure 
2. (psychology) the performance of some composite cognitive activity; an operation that affects mental contents
   "the process of thinking"
   - cognitive process, mental process, operation, cognitive operation 
3. A writ issued by authority of law; usually compels the defendant's attendance in a civil suit; failure to appear results in a default judgment against the defendant
   - summons 
4. A mental process that you are not directly aware of
   "the process of denial"
   - unconscious process 
5. A natural prolongation or projection from a part of an organism either animal or plant
   "a bony process"
   - outgrowth, appendage 
6. A sustained phenomenon or one marked by gradual changes through a series of states
   "events now in process"; "the process of calcification begins later for boys than for girls"
   - physical process

Verb: process  prowses

1. Subject to a process or treatment, with the aim of readying for some purpose, improving, or remedying a condition
   "process cheese"; "process hair"
   - treat 
2. Deal with in a routine way
   "process a loan"; "process the applicants" 
3. Perform mathematical and logical operations on (data) according to programmed instructions in order to obtain the required information
   "The results of the elections were still being processed when he gave his acceptance speech" 
4. Institute legal proceedings against; file a suit against
   "He was warned that the district attorney would process him"
   - action, sue, litigate 
5. March in a procession
   "They processed into the dining room"
   - march 
6. Shape, form, or improve a material
   "process iron"
   - work, work on 
7. Deliver a warrant or summons to someone
   "He was processed by the sheriff"
   - serve, swear out

Derived forms: processed, processes, processing

See also: processing, processor

Type of: activity, affect, bear on, bear upon, body part, calculate, care, challenge, cipher, cognition, compute, cypher, deal, deliver, figure [N. Amer], handle, impact, judicial writ, knowledge, manage, noesis, physical entity, reckon, touch, touch on, transform, transmute, transubstantiate, walk, work out, writ

Encyclopedia: Process

[Business]
AmE ; / noun, verb

■ noun [C]

BUSINESS PROCESS, FOUR-COLOUR PROCESS

1

a series of things that are done in order to achieve a particular result:

The whole purpose of the selection process is to pick the best person for the job.

New workers are encouraged to observe interview sessions as part of the process of training.

I'm afraid getting things changed will be a slow process.

Everyone in the department was involved in the planning process.

an approval/evaluation/inspection process

◆ a consultation/decision-making/planning process

◆ the hiring/selection process

◆ to complete/finish/go through/start a process

◆ to improve/speed up/streamline a process

2

a method used in industry for doing or making sth:

The manufacturing process involves the use of advanced technology.

The company had developed a process for converting coal into petrol.

The work process was divided into standardized tasks.

an industrial/a manufacturing/production process

◆ to improve/speed up/streamline/use a process

IDIOMS

be in the process of doing sth

to be continuing sth that you have started:

We sold one business and are in the process of selling another.

The two companies are in the process of merging.

in the process

while doing sth:

We improved the system and made substantial savings in the process.

■ verb [+ obj]

1

to treat raw material, food, etc. in order to change it, preserve it, etc:

They have signed a four billion euro contract to process nuclear waste.

Bacteria were found in meat processed at the plant.

The industry is working to reduce the levels of salt in processed food.

2

to deal officially with a document, request, etc:

It will take a week for your application to be processed.

The firm has cut the time it takes to process orders by 50%.

3 (IT )

to perform a series of operations on data in a computer:

The statisticians use computers to process large amounts of data.

Database systems process and store information.

⇨ DATA PROCESSING, WORD PROCESSING

processing noun [U]:

The food processing industry accounts for about a quarter of manufacturing jobs in Australia.

a processing plant/facility

computer processing power

The Norwegian fish processing industry is facing tough competition in the markets for frozen fish products.

The system is designed to speed up the processing of insurance claims.

[Law]
n. 1. (in court procedure) A document issued by a court to require the attendance of the parties or the performance of some initial step in the proceedings by a defendant. When it is used to initiate the proceedings it may be called the originating process. Most of the confusing process procedures have now been abolished and replaced under the Civil Procedure Rules; proceedings are now usually initiated by the issue of a claim form.
2. See ABUSE OF PROCESS.

[Medicine]
n
1
a : a natural progressively continuing operation or development marked by a series of gradual changes that succeed one another in a relatively fixed way and lead toward a particular result or end ‹the process of growth› ‹the process of digestion›
b : a natural continuing activity or function ‹such life processes as breathing and the circulation of the blood›
2 : a part of the mass of an organism or organic structure that projects outward from the main mass ‹a bone process› ‹a parasite that puts forth processes resembling tentacles›

[Computer]
1. <operating system, software> The sequence of states of an executing program. A process consists of the program code (which may be shared with other processes which are executing the same program), private data, and the state of the processor, particularly the values in its registers. It may have other associated resources such as a process identifier, open files, CPU time limits, shared memory, child processes, and signal handlers.

One process may, on some platforms, consist of many threads. A multitasking operating system can run multiple processes concurrently or in parallel, and allows a process to spawn "child" processes.



2. <business> The sequence of activities, people, and systems involved in carrying out some business or achieving some desired result. E.g. software development process, project management process, configuration management process.

Examples

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1. gasification is really a simple process.
2. this process produces corrosion of metals.
3. some shareholders delayed in the process.
4. we can break this process into two parts.
5. the process is distributed into three stages.