biasn.adj.adv.

Brit.

/ˈbʌɪəs/, U.S.

/ˈbaɪəs/

Inflections: Plural biases, biasses.

Forms: 1500s byess, 1500s–1600s biace, 1500s–1600s biase, 1500s–1600s biasse, 1500s–1600s byace, 1500s–1700s byasse, 1500s–1800s byas, 1500s– bias, 1600s biais, 1600s biaz, 1600s biaze, 1600s–1700s byass, 1600s–1800s biass.

Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymon: French biais.

Etymology: < Middle French biaiz, biese, Middle French, French biais (with reference to textiles) oblique cut (13th cent. in Old French in de biais (cut) obliquely), (odd or unusual) direction or arrangement (15th cent.), (adjective) oblique, diagonal (14th cent. in geometry), (figuratively) oblique (late 16th cent.), probably < Old Occitan biais (noun) obliqueness (first half of the 12th cent., also sometimes as adjective with the sense ‘pointed’), of uncertain origin; perhaps < an unattested post-classical Latin form *biaxius having two axes < classical Latin bi- bi- comb. form + axis axis n.¹ + -ius, suffix forming adjectives.Further Romance forms. Compare (partly < Old Occitan and partly < Old French) Catalan biaix (noun) obliqueness (13th cent.), Sardinian biasciu (adjective) oblique, Italian †biaso (adjective) that moves on an oblique path (a1311 in an isolated source from Genoa, also as noun in per biaso across), biescio , biegio (adjective) lacking sense or discernment (13th cent., also as noun), †sbiescio (noun) (physical) obliqueness (17th cent. in a sbiescio obliquely). Specific senses. With in the bias, on the bias at sense A. 1a compare French de biais (13th cent. in Old French with reference to the cut of a fabric; 14th cent. or earlier in geometry) and also en biais (14th cent. in geometry, or earlier). With sense B. 1a compare Middle French ligne biese diagonal line (14th cent., although this does not appear to be a fixed collocation). With use as adverb compare earlier biaswise adv. and biasways adv. The specific use in the game of bowls (see sense A. 2) developed in English and probably either underlies some later senses or influenced them. Variant forms. N.E.D. (1887) records a 16th cent. plural form bias (apparently reflecting the endingless plural in French), although unambiguous supporting evidence appears to be lacking.

A. n.

a. A slanting or sloping line, a diagonal; spec. a (notional) line running diagonally or at an angle to the warp or weft of a woven fabric; (also) an edge, cut, seam, etc., of a fabric following such a line. Now chiefly in on the bias (formerly also in bias, in the bias): (with reference to woven fabric) diagonally or at an angle to the warp or weft.Fabric stretches most along the true bias (true bias n.), which runs at 45 degrees to the warp and weft. A bias at any other angle may be distinguished as a garment bias or dressmaker's bias.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > relative position > inclination > [noun] > that which inclines > a line

bias1530

the world > relative properties > number > geometry > line > [noun] > diagonal

bias1530

diagonal1571

diagon1656

diagonial1668

diagony1690

the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > treating or processing textile fabric > [adverb] > cut on the bias

bias1811

on the cross1872

on the bias1880

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement iii. f. xx Byas of an hose, bias.

c1570 Ld. Sempill 3 Taverners ix Now gif ye..shape it precyslie, The ellwand wald be grit & lang, Gif the byess be wyde, gar lay it on side.

1697 tr. R. Descartes Use Geom. Playing Cards 4 An Oblique Line, which is neither Horizontal, nor a Plumb-line, but of a Bias, as F G.

1715 J. Hawkins Cocker's Eng. Dict. (ed. 2) at Ellipsis A crooked line in the bias.

1819 La Belle Assemblée Aug. 85/2 Another ball dress..is trimmed with full puckered net..confined by stripes, in bias, of light blue satin.

1873 Little Rock (Arkansas) Republican 22 Oct. The waist proposed here..gathers into a belt five or six inches wide, with gores (or darts or biases) to fit the figure.

1880 Melbourne Bull. 29 Oct. 5/1 The clothing..may not be cut on the bias.

1973 L. Olsheim Compl. Bk. Handicrafts 56/2 The strips may be cut on the straight grain or bias of the fabric.

2000 Salina (Kansas) Jrnl. 21 May a7/4 U.S. [route] 56..that cuts a bias across Kansas from Mission Hills to Elkhart.

2007 Vanity Fair Apr. 194/1 Hems were hand-rolled and hand-piped, edges picoted, cuffs cut on the bias.

b. A piece of fabric cut diagonally or at an angle to its warp or weft, typically to allow greater flexibility or elasticity, and used esp. as edging or binding. Cf. bias binding n.

ΘΚΠ

the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > [noun] > piece of > other pieces

piece?c1430

fasel1440

speckc1440

pane1459

rag?1536

remnant1571

fag end1607

swatch1647

cut1753

rigg1769

hag's teeth1777

bias1824

spetch1828

shredlet1840

bias tape1884

short end1960

1824 Morning Post 31 Aug. The fashionists surround the brims of rose-coloured..or white crape hats with a broad bias.

1860 Weekly Georgia Tel. (Macon, Georgia) 20 Sept. 5/7 The pique dresses are opened over an elegant petticoat, and should be trimmed round with a wide bias of the same color as the pattern on the dress.

1920 Garment Manufacturer's Index Sept. 42/2 A severe little bolero-blouse of cream cashmere, the simplicity of which is relieved by broad bias of dark blue.

2008 A. M. Horner Seams to Me 100/2 You'll want to move pretty slowly, gently stretching the bias a bit as you sew to form it smoothly around the curved edges.

(a) Bowls. The curving course or path taken by a bowl when rolled, due to its shape or (formerly) weighting (see sense A. 2a(b)); the tendency of a bowl to take such a course.

ΚΠ

1566 T. Churchyard Lament. Freyndshyp (single sheet) Nor sure the byas of the bowle Goeth not so strayghte on mayster blocke.

1796 G. M. Woodward Eccentric Excurs. i. 11 The anxiety attending the right bias of the bowl towards the jack is represented in Compartment 4 [of the illustrations].

1864 Athenæum No. 1920. 209/1 A bias that should reach the jack.

1907 F. W. Hackwood Old Eng. Sports xi. 176 The bias may be denoted by numbers: No. 1 being nearly straight, No. 2 a narrow bias, No. 3 a medium bias, No. 4 a full bias, and No. 5 a wide bias.

2001 Press (Christchurch, N.Z.) (Nexis) 1 Aug. 63 The bowls, which came from the manufacturer with too narrow a bias, are back in their bags.

(b) Bowls. A feature or property of a bowl which causes it to take a curving course or path when rolled; spec. (in early use) a weight inserted on one side of the bowl; (later) the shape or construction of the bowl, being slightly flatter on one side and more rounded on the other. Sometimes also: impetus given to the bowl by the player in order to direct it in the desired path. In early use frequently figurative and in figurative contexts.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > bowls or bowling > [noun] > bowl > manner of construction

bias1570

1570 in tr. Life 70 Abps. Canterb. B v. (margin) As you haue sett youre bias, so runneth your bowle.

1625 F. Bacon Ess. (new ed.) 136 Which set a Bias vpon the Bowle, of their owne Petty Ends.

1692 R. Bentley Matter & Motion cannot Think 35 If it [sc. a Bowl] be made with a Byas, that may decline it a little from a straight Line.

1714 C. Johnson Country Lasses ii. ii Joy shall be the jack, pleasure the bias, and we'll rowl after happiness to the last moment of life.

1782 J. Douglas Travelling Anecd. I. 237 How often, when we give the bowl its truest bias to arrive at the jack of success, does the rub intervene, and a cursed obliquity disappoint all our happiness.

1851 A. W. Hare Serm. I. viii. 133 Just as a bowl with a bias, if you try to send it straight, the longer it rolls, the further it will swerve.

1927 Evening Tel. (Dundee) 23 June (Late Extra ed.) 2/5 The keener the green gets the more bias a bowl requires to reach the object.

1994 Sunday Age (Melbourne) (Nexis) 16 Oct. 8 They [sc. bowls] are then shaped by machines..that remove imperfections and add the all-important bias.

†b. In other sports and games. The tendency of a ball to take a curving course or path when delivered; impetus given to a ball to cause it to take such a path. Also (Cricket): spin imparted to a ball when bowling; the break of a delivery after pitching (cf. bias bowling n. (a) at Compounds 3). Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > bowling > [noun] > a ball bowled > properties of

length1772

pace?1801

bias1822

pitch1833

line1961

1822 W. Hazlitt Table-talk II. vii. 158 The skittle-player bends his body to give a bias to the bowl he has already delivered from his hand.

1833 J. Mitford in Gentleman's Mag. Sept. 239/1 His balls..have a very perplexing bias, and require a most accomplished batter to meet them.

1866 Frank Leslie's Illustr. Newspaper 15 Sept. 405/1 His style of pitching is the medium-paced delivery, he imparting considerable of a bias to the ball.

1921 Ld. Harris Few Short Runs v. 135 The bowler was not slow to take advantage of the opening by developing anew the old ‘bias’ or break from leg.

a. A tendency, inclination, or leaning towards a particular characteristic, behaviour, etc.; a propensity. Also: something, esp. an action or practice, to which a person is inclined or predisposed.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > behaviour > customary or habitual mode of behaviour > [noun] > habitual course of action

bias?1571

dogtrot1682

the world > existence and causation > existence > state or condition > tendency > [noun] > a tendency

spirita1425

inclination1526

bias?1571

vein1585

habitude1603

ply1605

nitency1662

result1663

tend1663

penchant1673

nisus1699

hank1721

squint1736

patent1836

subjectivism1845

lurch1854

biasness1872

tilt1975

?1571 tr. G. Buchanan Detectioun Marie Quene of Scottes sig. Eiij She commeth to her own byace [L. ad se redit], and openly sheweth hir owne naturall conditions.

1620 F. Quarles Jonah (1638) 38 To change the byas of her crooked wayes.

1827 J. C. Hare & A. W. Hare Guesses at Truth I. 40 A proof of our natural bias to evil.

1882 York Herald 7 July 6/2 Mr Gladstone said he would leave it to the Committee to consider whether any provision of that nature should be adopted; but at present his bias was to leave it to the good sense of the presiding officer in the case.

1939 Western Gaz. 3 Nov. (N. Dorset ed.) 11/3 In average soils lime is needed once in three years. In those that have a natural bias towards sourness, biennial applications are desirable.

2004 BBC Wildlife Mag. May 65/1 Though many of the parrot species as a whole didn't show a strong bias for left- or right-footedness, right-footed birds had greater language abilities.

b. That which sways or influences a person in their actions, perceptions, etc.; a controlling or directing influence. Now rare or merged in sense A. 3c.In quot. a1616 as part of an extended metaphor; cf. sense A. 2a(b).

ΘΚΠ

society > authority > power > influence > [noun]

powerc1300

authorityc1405

voice1433

swaya1510

gravity1534

force1582

bias1587

interest1600

prevalence1612

prevailance1631

pondus1638

prevailancya1649

prevailency1650

influence1652

prevalency1652

weight1710

prevailingness1757

holding1770

mojo1923

clout1958

muscle1965

1587 G. Turberville Tragicall Tales f. 103^v That to the end he might the maid Unto his bias bring.

a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) ii. i. 578 This vile drawing byas, This sway of motion, this commoditie.

1660 W. Secker Nonsuch Professor 430 The love of God is the byas of a Volunteer.

1705 G. Stanhope Paraphr. Epist. & Gospels II. 196 The Bribery and Byass of Sense and Flesh.

1851 W. E. Gladstone State Prosecutions Neapolitan Govt. 24 He could not possibly be under any bias.

1994 Jrnl. Japanese Stud. 20 227 Western scholars of Japanese literature,..who misread Heian texts under the bias of their own cultural dispositions.

c. Tendency to favour or dislike a person or thing, especially as a result of a preconceived opinion; partiality, prejudice. Also: an instance of this; any preference or attitude that affects outlook or behaviour, esp. by inhibiting impartial consideration or judgement.See also confirmation bias n., gender bias n., implicit bias n., unconscious bias n.Now the usual sense.

ΚΠ

1731 G. Medley tr. P. Kolb Present State Cape Good-Hope I. ix. 122 The Matter is soon decided, but rarely with Impartiality, for the Appetites of his Judges give 'em a strong Bias against him.

1768 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. III. 361 The law will not suppose a possibility of biass or favour in a judge.

1878 W. E. H. Lecky Hist. Eng. 18th Cent. II. vi. 179 They could have no possible bias in favour of the Irish.

1907 Arena Apr. 399/1 Mr. McKerrow's paper from first to last shows a strong bias in favor of private-ownership.

1976 Times 30 June 4/3 The company..certainly has no bias for or against either union.

2002 New Yorker 14 Oct. 171/2 Toward the end of her provostship, the United States Department of Labor began an investigation into bias against women and minorities at Stanford.

d. In South Korean entertainment (esp. K-pop): a person's favourite pop star, pop group, actor, etc.; a fan's favourite member of a pop group.Recorded earliest as a modifier.

ΚΠ

2009 @MissMaryCherry 7 Nov. in twitter.com (accessed 26 Feb. 2021) Ahhh what my K-Pop bias boy group does best well besides singing..butt bumping fanservice on stage!

2016 @cyxl_ 10 Aug. in twitter.com (accessed 9 Mar. 2021) From all male korean actor my bias is JI CHANG WOOK.

2020 A. Raj Understand K-pop 121 Whenever an idol publicly declares their relationship, there are some fans, who would go on to make long Twitter threads on how they are hurt and disappointed because their bias is dating or—gasp!—getting married.

†4. In the terminology of William Petty: a centre of influence within an atom governing its interactions with other atoms. Obsolete. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > physics > mechanics > force > gravity > [noun] > point to which bodies tend

centre of gravity1624

centre of attraction1654

bias1674

1674 W. Petty Disc. before Royal Soc. 126 I suppose in every atom..two poles in its superficies, and a Central point within its substance, which I call its Byas... I suppose that the Byas of one Atome may have a tendency towards the Byas of another near it, and that the Byasses of many Atoms may tend to some common point without them.

a. A physical inclination in a specified direction; a tendency to lean, turn, etc., to one side.

ΘΚΠ

the world > existence and causation > existence > state or condition > tendency > [noun] > to some physical condition or action

inclinationa1398

disposition1398

propension1612

propensitya1623

bias1819

perpensity1871

1819 J. T. Koster Descr. New Method Constructing Wheel Carriages 11 When two flat wheels with short naves were made to turn round upon the ends of a straight axle-tree..they would soon take a bias to one side.

1862 A. Trollope in Cornhill Mag. Oct. 558 It was a long, thin nose, which..had a preponderating bias towards the left side.

1962 Galpin Soc. Jrnl. 15 51 The down pipe of the crook is given a very slight bias to the right of the vertical, thus canting the instrument towards the left hand when held naturally.

2012 S. Hayek & R. M. Levy Neurostimulation for Treatm. Chronic Pain I. (e-book ed.) The implant should be placed midline in cases of axial symptomatology or with a bias to one side for patients with unilateral pain.

b. Mechanics. A tendency to move in a certain direction or way, given to an armature, pointer, etc. (e.g. by a spring, weight, or magnetic field).

ΚΠ

1856 Brit. Patent 3059 (1857) 13 By reversing the currents, the bar f is thrown from side to side, and remains on that side to which it was last attracted. A spring or small separate permanent magnet..may be used to give the necessary bias to the one side or the other.

1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXIII. 221/2 With the tongue set neutral, having no bias either to the spacing or marking side—the relay will give good signals with 1½ milliamperes of current.

1970 Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 5 May 147/1 A lock collar at one end of the spring provides an adjustment of the bias again at the deflector arm and its brake.

2006 M. Schwartz New Materials, Processes, & Methods Technol. (2010) iv. 253 The shrinkage of the wire pulls the latch piece upward, against the downward bias of the reset spring.

6. Statistics. Distortion of a statistical result arising from the method of sampling, measurement, analysis, etc.; an instance of this. Also: something that tends to result in such distortion.See also Malmquist bias n., protopathic bias n., response bias n., self-selection bias n.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > number > probability or statistics > [noun] > distortion of result

systematic error1826

bias1847

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > inaccuracy, inexactness > [noun] > in calculation > instance of > in statistics

bias1847

1847 J. F. W. Herschel Results Astron. Observ. ii. 283 It becomes very evident that these causes alone are not sufficient to account for the discordances—and that there exists a systematic bias, from whatever cause arising, which has affected all the twenty-feet measurements.

1900 London, Edinb. & Dublin Philos. Mag. 50 167 The results show a bias from the theoretical results, 5 and 6 points occurring more frequently than they should do.

1969 Milbank Memorial Fund Q. 47 195 Survey researchers are necessarily concerned about possible bias in their survey data resulting from inability to interview all persons selected by the sampling plan.

2019 Guardian (Nexis) 30 May (Environment section) Measurements were more often made from warmer engine room intakes than from buckets lowered over the side of ships. This has resulted in a bias, inflating estimated surface temperatures in the early-to-mid 1940s.

a. Electronics. A voltage, current, or other parameter which is set to establish a threshold or operating point for a component or device (such as a diode, transistor, or vacuum tube); (also) the resultant threshold or operating point itself.See also grid bias n.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electronics > electronic phenomena > [noun] > steady voltage applied to device

bias1920

1920 Amer. Jrnl. Physiol. 52 424 The grid was given an initial ‘bias’, i.e., a positive or negative potential, by inserting one or more dry cells in series between the slide-wire and grid.

1937 Bell Syst. Techn. Jrnl. 16 171 A direct current was used as a bias to bring the recording flux to the most suitable part of the curve.

1987 A. Fuller Ferrites ix. 200 They then use a particular inhomogeneous magnetic bias on a continuous ferrite substrate to produce a circulator with similar performance over the band 8 to 12 GHz.

2020 C. Shamieh Electronics for Dummies (ed. 3) x. 182 Blocking capacitor C1 helps maintain the bias of the transistor by filtering out DC offsets in the input signal before the signal gets to the transistor.

b. In recording sound on magnetic tape or (in early use) wire: an electronic signal at ultrasonic frequencies added to an input audio signal to reduce distortion and noise; (also) the magnetic field generated by this added signal.In tape types as high bias, metal bias, and normal bias.See quot. 1937 at sense A. 7a for earlier use of a steady bias in magnetic recording.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > record > recording or reproducing sound or visual material > sound recording and reproduction > [noun] > waveform on which signal is superimposed

bias1941

the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electronics > electronic phenomena > [noun] > waveform > types of waveform

saw tooth1933

bias1941

square wave1944

ramp1945

the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electronics > electronic phenomena > [noun] > radiation field > field generated by wave-form

bias1941

1941 D. E. Wooldridge U.S. Patent 2,235,132 1/2 As the tape..passes the pole-pieces..it will be subjected to both the high frequency bias flux and the variable signal flux which leaves the tape variously magnetized in accordance with the signals.

1949 J. G. Frayne & H. Wolfe Elements Sound Recording xxix. 588 The unmagnetized wire or tape is subjected in the recording magnet to a field compounded of the audio signal and a high-frequency component called the bias.

1986 Making Music Apr. 35/1 Vesta recommend TDK SA-X or Maxell XL115 cassettes (ie high bias types only, as usual).

2012 J. Kadis Sci. Sound Recording viii. 124 Adjustment of the amount of bias added to the record signal gives the engineer the ability to select a balance between noise performance, distortion, and bandwidth.

8. An offset in the reading or output of a sensor or electronic device.

ΚΠ

1949 Photofact Television Course (H. W. Sams & Co.) iii. xi. 130/1 The direct current component or ‘bias’ corresponds to the average illumination of the scene being televised.

1963 Q. M. Hansen et al. Study Inertial Navigation Errors during Reentry Earth's Atmosphere (NASA Techn. Note D–1772) 19 Using the outputs of the accelerometers as zero above the atmosphere, so that the biases are not integrated prior to reentry, can greatly reduce the effects of accelerometer bias.

1987 D. C. Zimmerman & H. H. Cudney in L. Meirovitch Dynamics & Control Large Struct. 281 An additional practical consideration in integrating the accelerometer signal is that the DC bias must be made as small as possible, or the bias will integrate to infinity as time goes to infinity.

2006 J. V. Odom in J. R. Heckenlively & G. B. Arden Princ. & Pract. Clin. Electrophysiol. Vision (ed. 2) xviii. 257/1 The bias of an amplifier refers to the voltage output of the amplifier when the input voltage is zero.

B. adj.

†a. Slanting, oblique; spec. designating a line which is a diagonal, or which marks a hypotenuse. Cf. biasways adv., biaswise adv. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > relative position > inclination > [adjective]

embelifc1400

inclining?c1400

oblique?a1425

inclinate?1440

hieldingc1480

inclined?a1500

bias1551

overthwart1594

sidelong1598

squinty1598

skew1609

traverse1609

skewed1611

obliquous1614

squint1703

inclinated1751

slanting1768

slanted1770

slant1776

aslant1791

diagonal1796

rakish1830

slantindicular1832

slantwise1856

slaunchways1913

slanty1928

1551 R. Record Pathway to Knowl. ii. xxxii By the Bias line, I meane that lyne, whiche in any square figure dooth runne from corner to corner.

1551 R. Record Pathway to Knowl. i. sig. Aiv And like waies in this figure there are three lines, the grounde lyne whiche is A. B. the plumme line that is A. C. and the bias line, whiche goeth from the one of them to the other, and lieth against the right corner in such a figure whiche is here. C. B.

1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 1169 Her oblique and biase declination.

1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. 351 Some shells are crooked and byas.

b. With reference to woven fabric: cut diagonally or at an angle to the warp or weft; oriented according to the bias; made with fabric cut or oriented in this way. Also spec.: designating a long, narrow piece of bias-cut fabric used as edging or binding. Cf. bias binding n., bias tape n.

ΘΚΠ

the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > [adjective] > bias cut

bias1600

bias-cut1821

1600 in J. Arnold Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd (1988) 256/2 Item one Mantle of tawnye satten bordered with an enbroderie of venice golde and silver and enbrodered allover with bias Cloudes.

1784 Parker's Gen. Advertiser 21 July (table) Sattin Bias Cord.

1815 La Belle Assemblée Aug. 82/1 This pelisse is trimmed..with byas white satin laid on in folds.

1895 Daily Inter Ocean (Chicago) 30 Oct. The skirt was trimmed with bias folds of the goods, and the bodice had a fitted back and loose pointed jacket fronts of the bias serge.

1914 Altoona (Pa.) Mirror 7 Aug. 14/3 The really smart flare collar for your frocks from now on..must have a bias edging of..some dark contrasting tone.

1940 Daily Tel. 6 May 8/6 Some skirts look very smart with..backs that jut a single bias seam from straight fronts.

2019 Brisbane News (Nexis) 18 Dec. 8 I'll be wearing the label's Roxie puff sleeve bias dress.

†2. Rounded like a biased bowl used in the game of bowls. Cf. sense A. 2a(b). Obsolete.Apparently an isolated use.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > shape > curvature > curved surface > [adjective] > convex

swellingc1000

gibbousc1400

round?1523

convex?a1560

convexed1578

bias1609

out-bowed1613

outbent1625

full1627

outbowing1657

gibbose1682

rounded1712

bulging1812

pot-bellied1814

balloony1861

bombed1872

bombous1878

1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida iv. vi. 8 Thy sphered Bias cheeke.

C. adv.

a. Obliquely, diagonally; at an angle. Now rare (U.S. in later use).

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > relative position > inclination > [adverb]

sidelonga1398

aslanta1400

aslopec1400

embelifc1400

a-sloutc1440

sleetc1440

slant1495

obliquely1503

shoringc1503

a-swash1530

biaswise1545

biasways1556

slantingly1570

sideways1572

slantwise1573

avelinges1577

bias?1578

askant1602

slopely1605

slantinga1625

oblique1667

bias-way1702

skew1706

slantly1719

inclinably1760

slantways1828

slantindicular1831

slantindicularly1834

skewly1896

slaunchways1933

the world > space > direction > [adverb] > off the direct line > obliquely

asidec1369

aslanta1400

slant1495

obliquely1503

asklenta1540

askew1565

slantingly1570

slantwise1573

wry1575

bias?1578

askance1590

askant1602

slantinga1625

asquint1645

across1700

slantly1719

akimboc1796

slantways1828

aslantwise1852

slantingways1899

the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > sideways movement or a sideways movement > [adverb] > obliquely

aslanta1400

sideslepes?a1400

embelifc1400

slant1495

obliquely1503

slantling?1521

askance1530

asklenta1540

biaswise1545

askew1565

wry1575

bias?1578

slentwise1579

overthwartly1591

asquint1645

transversally1648

aslope1667

slantways1828

skeow-ways1869

slantingways1899

?1578 W. Patten Let. Entertainm. Killingwoorth 31 Woold run hiz race byas among the thickest of the throng.

1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. i. iv. 122 That rich Guirdle..Which God gaue Nature..To weare it biaze, buckled ouerthwart-her.

1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. ix. 376/2 The definitions of the Principles of Geometrical Lines are here next to be described... f is a perpendicular or plumb Line, a Line down right. And an Oblique Line, which runs Byas, or athwart.

1880 Daily Cairo (Illinois) Bull. 26 June The stout lady roused up from her nap, set her bonnet bias across her eyebrows.

1906 Country Life in Amer. Jan. 334/2 Seven-eighths-inch curly maple flooring laid bias on the outsides.

1960 Clovis (New Mexico) News-Jrnl. 27 July 6/1 A lifted animated bang that flows bias across the forehead.

b. With reference to woven fabric: diagonally or at an angle to the warp or weft; = on the bias at sense A. 1a.

ΘΚΠ

bias1811

on the cross1872

on the bias1880

1811 Walker's Hibernian Mag. May 265/1 The skirts are made of one entire width of muslin, cut bias.

1889 Goodholme's Domest. Cycl. (new ed.) 77/2 Take a square of the desired material, fold it bias..then gather it along this diagonal.

1981 Globe & Mail (Canada) (Nexis) 28 Apr. There are always parts cut bias to mold to the body.

2014 N. Palacios Fashion with Passion v. 55/2 A dress cut bias uses a lot of fabric.

†2. Away from the proper, anticipated, or intended course; awry, amiss. Chiefly in to go (also run) bias. Cf. to go sideways at sideways adv. and adj. Phrases 3b. Obsolete (U.S. in later use).

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > lack of truth, falsity > [adverb] > in a wrong way, amiss

on missc1225

overthwarta1382

a-crookc1500

awrya1513

wide?1529

astray1535

across1559

bias1600

outa1641

beside the bridge1652

on the wrong side of the post1728

abroad1806

off1843

way off1882

off beam1941

up the boohai?1946

1600 S. Rowlands Letting of Humors Blood i. 47 His tongue runs byas on affaires.

1633 G. Herbert Temple: Sacred Poems 64 When the wide world runnes bias.

1872 A. M. Diaz William Henry & his Friends 176 I've trembled for fear of seeing him take advantage..for fear of finding something in him,—something that went bias.

1913 J. Hannon tr. P. L'Ermite Mighty Friend 566 The blade went bias, alas, and in the next result Monsieur Soupot and Monsieur Soupot's nose parted company for evermore.

Phrases

†P1. against the bias: contrary to expectation or inclination. Obsolete.

ΚΠ

a1586 Sir P. Sidney Apol. Poetrie (1595) sig. K3 To finde a matter quite mistaken, and goe downe the hill agaynst the byas, in the mouth of some such men.

1597 W. Shakespeare Richard II iii. iv. 5 Twil make me thinke the world is full of rubs, And that my fortune runs against the bias .

1675 T. Shadwell Psyche i. 9 Must we against our own affections fight, And quite against the Bias bend the will?

P2.

†a. out of (also from, off) (one's) bias: in or into a disturbed or upset state; not in a normal condition or frame of mind. Frequently in to throw (a person) off his or her bias and variants: to disconcert, upset, or confuse (a person). Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > order > disorder > confusion or disorder > in confusion or disorder [phrase]

out of (also from, off) (one's) bias1590

all over the place1719

all over the shop1866

all over the show1888

in a clutter1890

1590 R. Greene Mourning Garment 20 The King is out of his bias.

1659 T. Lushington Resurrection Rescued 8 Such strange opinions as would turn the whole world out of bias.

1740 S. Richardson Pamela II. 209 There is no putting him out of his Byas. He is a regular Piece of Clock-work.

1752 D. Hume Polit. Disc. ii. 30 Superstition, which throws the Government off its bias.

1844 Times 15 Apr. 6/2 Even he had been thrown off his bias when his own bill..had been put into his hand.

1927 Daily Mail 23 Apr. 19/3 John was thrown completely off his bias.

†b. from (also out of) the bias: not directly relevant; beside the point. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > relationship > relevance or pertinence > [phrase] > irrelevant

of purpose (also (out) of (a) (set) purpose)a1382

wide of (also from) the mark1536

neither off nor on1549

from the purpose1561

from (also out of) the bias1600

from the matter1658

(off) at, in, upon a tangent1825

1600 T. Dekker Shomakers Holiday sig. D3 Wel maister, al this is from the bias, do you remember the ship.

1642 J. Howell Instr. Forreine Travell xi. 142 Here it will not be much out of the byas, to insert..a few verses.

Compounds

C1.

a. Electronics. General use as a modifier (in sense A. 7).

ΚΠ

1932 F. E. Terman Radio Engin. xi. 392 The regeneration increases as the total amplification A₁A₂ and the bias impedance Zc are increased.

1956 C. G. Westcott Tape Recorders vi. 81 The bias oscillator serves the all-important function of making linear and distortion-free low-noise recordings while erasing the tape.

1984 A. B. Grebene Bipolar & MOS Analog Integrated Circuit Design xi. 595 The optimum bias setting for minimum total harmonic distortion.

2015 J. X. Przybysz & D. L. Miller in P. Seidel Appl. Superconductivity II. x. 1120 The bias resistors compensate for the different voltages that develop on an active circuit.

bias current n. Electronics the electric current which is sent or drawn through a component or device in setting its bias (sense A. 7).

ΚΠ

1928 Gen. Electric Rev. Oct. 551/1 This greatly reduces the tube losses as the bias current I is then disposed of, thus eliminating the steady loss.

2005 M. A. Parker Physics Optoelectronics ii. 69 The output power below threshold is linear in the bias current.

bias voltage n. Electronics the voltage applied or developed in setting the bias (sense A. 7) of a component or device.

ΚΠ

1920 QST (Amer. Radio Relay League) Oct. 30/2 The proper load, bias voltage, and excitation voltage of a bulb oscillator, as well as the heating current and the plate generator voltage, are best determined by direct test.

1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 89/1 Bias voltage, generally, the mean potential of any electrode in a thermionic tube, measured with respect to the cathode. Specially applied to that of the control grid.

2019 @lukeweston 11 Mar. in twitter.com (accessed 16 Mar. 2020) Need to check what the right bias voltage is for these things. It will work a lot better with moderator on it, and an amplifier.

C2. Originally and chiefly U.S. As a modifier, designating an attack or (violent) crime motivated by hatred or intolerance of another social group, usually on the basis of race, religion, or sexuality. Now chiefly in bias crime (cf. hate crime n.).

ΚΠ

1954 N.Y. Times 13 Nov. (Late City ed.) 20/7 Bias attack on Ribicoff denied... John F. McCoy..pleaded innocent today to charges of attacking the Democratic Governor-elect, Abraham A. Ribicoff, on religious grounds in the election campaign.

1982 Corbin (Kentucky) Times-Tribune 15 Jan. 2/1 New laws imposing stiffer penalties on religious or racial vandals were enacted..by eight states, including the three states with the most such ‘bias crimes’.

1993 Time Internat. 18 Jan. 8/2 Local law-enforcement officials need to develop greater sensitivity toward bias offences.

2016 Herald-Times (Bloomington, Indiana) 19 Jan. a7/4 Jews, Muslims, people of color, LGBT people and the disabled—to name only five common targets of bias crimes—should feel secure..in any county or town.

C3.

bias binding n. a long, narrow strip of bias-cut cloth, typically used as a decorative edging or for binding a raw edge, hem, etc., to prevent fraying; (now also) a type of folded bias-cut ribbon made for this purpose (cf. bias tape n.).

ΘΚΠ

the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric manufactured in specific way > [noun] > of specific size > narrow > tape > for binding

lear1382

binding1598

stay-tape1699

bias binding1825

bias tape1884

1825 La Belle Assemblée Jan. 29/1 A few black satin bonnets..are ornamented with puffs of satin, edged with bias bindings.

1927 New Butterick Dressmaker xix. 174 Bias bindings make attractive finishes either in the same or in a contrasting material or color.

2003 Quilter's Newslet. Mag. Sept. 29 Bind the quilt with bias binding, easing binding around the curves.

bias bowl n. a bowl used in the game of bowls, having a bias (sense A. 2a(b)) which causes it to take a curving course or path when rolled; cf. biased adj. 2.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > bowls or bowling > [noun] > bowl

bowlc1420

bias bowl1592

sand bowlsa1683

wood1884

yetling1895

1592 T. Nashe Strange Newes sig. M^v Gabriell..cannot make the bias bowle at Saffron Walden run downe the hill.

1751 C. Colden Princ. Action in Matter v. 148 The axis of a bias bowl, being inclined to the plane on which it rolls, is the cause why if deviates from the direction in which its motion was impress'd.

2000 J. Burnett Riot, Revelry & Rout iv. 40 Bowls developed a new level of sophistication with the introduction of bias bowls.

bias bowler n. Cricket (now rare) a bowler who specializes in applying spin to the ball when bowling; a spin-bowler; cf. sense A. 2b.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > cricketer > [noun] > bowler > types of bowler

slow bowler1823

fast bowler1828

bias bowler1854

round-arm1858

demon bowler1861

left-hander1864

chucker1882

lobster1889

slow1895

leg-breaker1904

speed merchant1913

leg-spinner1920

spin bowler1920

off-spinner1924

quickie1934

tweaker1935

swerve-bowler1944

pace bowler1947

seam bowler1948

spinner1951

seamer1952

wrist-spinner1957

outswinger1958

swing bowler1958

quick1960

stock bowler1968

paceman1972

leggy1979

1854 J. Pycroft Cricket Field (ed. 2) iv. 77 Sparkes was also a fair bias bowler, but of no great pace.

1944 Scotsman 29 Jan. 7/4 He was for years, in the zenith period of cricket, one of the most accurate of bias bowlers.

bias bowling n. †(a) (Cricket) a bowling technique in which spin is applied to the ball on delivery; spin-bowling (Obsolete); (b) (Bowls) the game of bowls, played using bowls with a bias (sense A. 2a); cf. bias bowls n.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > bowls or bowling > [noun] > types of play

Vincent's law1591

bias bowling1833

roll-off1886

guarding1897

takeout1958

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > bowling > [noun] > manner of bowling > specific

fast bowling1816

lobbing1824

bias bowling1833

windmill1867

fast-medium1890

flick1897

whip1903

swerve-bowling1930

body line1933

tweaking1949

swing bowling1953

spin-bowling1955

seam-bowling1956

pace bowling1958

nip1963

wrist-spinning1963

1833 J. Mitford in Gentleman's Mag. Sept. 238 The plan adopted by good batters against slow bias bowling was successful.

1875 J. G. Wood Mod. Playmate (rev. ed.) 144 Bias-bowling, if good, is not only hard to hit..it has in addition a great knack of flying off the bad in unexpected directions.

1944 Mt. Dora (Florida) Topic 14 Dec. Florida should be proud to offer an exclusive and superior type of bias bowling adapted to its excellent winter climate.

2012 Advocate (Burnie, Tasmania) (Nexis) 14 Mar. 23 Burnie Senior Citizens Club Inc., bowls training 11am; indoor bias bowling 12.30pm.

bias bowls n. Bowls the game of bowls, played using bowls with a bias (sense A. 2a); cf. bias bowling n. (b), biased bowls n.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > bowls or bowling > [noun] > forms of

long bowl1497

byles1530

trule1568

portbowls1585

long bullets1679

boccia1827

bocce1828

trailing1902

boule1924

bias bowls1939

pétanque1955

1939 Evening Tel. & Post (Dundee) 3 Apr. (Late Extra ed.) 10/2 The club..for the second year in succession carried off the Angus Federation Bias Bowls Cup.

2018 Courier (Ballarat, Austral.) (Nexis) 9 June Ballarat again hosting three-day indoor bias bowls championships.

bias-cut adj. (of fabric) cut diagonally or at an angle to the warp or weft; (of an item) made with fabric cut or oriented in this way.

ΘΚΠ

the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > [adjective] > bias cut

bias1600

bias-cut1821

1821 La Belle Assemblée Mar. 136/1 The border consists of two rows of doubled bias-cut flock gauze.

1969 Guardian 30 July 7/4 Bias cut skirts flare out from the hips.

2015 D. Thomas Gods & Kings 181 The show-piece, an ivory satin-backed crepe bias-cut gown.

† bias drawing n. Obsolete deviation from the truth, insincerity.Apparently an isolated use.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > dissimulation, pretence > insincerity > [noun]

hollow-heartedness1549

bias drawinga1616

unsincerity1646

hollowness1648

unsincereness1683

insinceritya1699

phoniness1910

a1616 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida (1623) iv. vii. 53 Faith and troth, Strain'd purely from all hollow bias drawing.

bias-eyed adj. chiefly derogatory and offensive (now rare) (of a person) having eyes which slant upwards towards the outer corners, slant-eyed (often used as an insult towards people of East Asian or South-East Asian descent).

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > eye > [adjective] > by size, shape, etc. > having

goggle-eyedc1384

well-eyed1483

pink-eyed1519

hollow-eyeda1529

small-eyed1555

great-eyed1558

bird-eyed1564

out-eyed1570

large-eyed1575

full-eyed1581

bright-eyed1590

wall-eyed1590

beetle-eyed1594

fire-eyed?1594

young-eyed1600

open-eyed1601

soft-eyed1606

narrow-eyed1607

broad-eyed?1611

saucer-eyed1612

ox-eyed1621

pig-eyed1655

glare-eyed1683

pit-eyed1696

dove-eyed1717

laughing-eyed1784

almond1786

wide-eyed1789

moon-eyed1790

big-eyed1792

gooseberry-eyed1796

red-eyed1800

unsealed1800

screw-eyed1810

starry-eyed1818

pinkie-eyed1824

pop-eyed1830

bead-eyed1835

fishy-eyed1836

almond-eyed1849

boopic1854

sharp-set1865

bug-eyed1872

beady-eyed1873

bias-eyed1877

blank-eyed1881

gape-eyed1889

glass-eyed1889

stone-eyed1890

pie-eyed1900

slitty-eyed1908

steely-eyed1964

megalopic1985

1877 Burlington (Iowa) Daily Hawk-eye 28 Dec. 2/5 A bias-eyed, saffron-skinned, pigeon-toed Chinee.

1969 Rockdale (Texas) Reporter 6 Nov. 6 a/6 Those bias-eyed rice chewers in China.

bias-ply adj. and n. (a) adj. designating a tyre in which the layers of fabric are laid with the cords at an oblique angle to the circumference of the tyre; of or relating to such tyres (opposed to radial-ply adj. and n. (a) at radial adj. and n. Compounds); (b) n. a bias-ply tyre.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > vehicles according to means of motion > vehicle moving on wheels > [adjective] > fitted with tyres > attributes of tyres

steel-studdeda1400

white-walled1720

punctured1896

sidewall1901

beaded-edge1902

treaded1906

low-profile1922

whitewall1930

run-flat1941

whitewall1957

bald1958

bias-ply1964

cross-ply1965

studded1966

treadless1968

society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > vehicles according to means of motion > vehicle moving on wheels > [noun] > parts of vehicle moving on wheels > wheel > rubber or pneumatic tyre > types of

sidewall1901

non-skid1905

retread1909

remould1928

recap1929

knobbly1938

knobby1943

whitewall1950

slick1959

bias-ply1964

radial1964

cross-ply1965

snow1968

Pennsylvania cap1971

wet1977

1964 Waxahachie (Texas) Daily Light 21 June ii. 2/1 Two types of fiberglas reinforced tires were tested by Owens-Corning. One was of the radical ply design... The other followed the conventional bias ply pattern in which multiple layers of equal and opposite bias plies run at an angle between beads.

1980 Truck & Bus Transportation Feb. 26/2 ‘Radial tyres have a lower vertical spring rate than bias-ply tyres and therefore allow the vehicle to roll more’, Dr Sweatman said... Radials respond faster at low slip angles, but the peak sideforce available is greater for the bias-ply.

2007 Calgary (Alberta) Herald (Nexis) 23 Dec. e5 Mercedes commissioned Dunlop to produce tires that look like bias-plies but are actually radials.

bias tape n. originally U.S. a type of folded bias-cut ribbon or tape made for finishing raw edges, binding seams, etc.; cf. bias binding n.

ΘΚΠ

the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > [noun] > piece of > other pieces

piece?c1430

fasel1440

speckc1440

pane1459

rag?1536

remnant1571

fag end1607

swatch1647

cut1753

rigg1769

hag's teeth1777

bias1824

spetch1828

shredlet1840

bias tape1884

short end1960

lear1382

binding1598

stay-tape1699

bias binding1825

bias tape1884

1884 Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 12 Feb. 600/2 The improved process of making continuous bias tape, consisting of cutting the fabric at an angle of about forty-five degrees to its warp and filling, cementing together the selvages of the successive pieces to form a continuous band.

1920 Designer Feb. 71/3 The new trimming for middy blouses and sailor suits. Made of Wright's Bias Tape stitched in parallel rows on fast colored percale.

2011 Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 17 Nov. 15 Anderson's use of leather at the neck and hem in place of bias tape gave the sets an air of science fiction.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2021; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

biasv.

Brit.

/ˈbʌɪəs/, U.S.

/ˈbaɪəs/

Inflections: Present participle biasing, biassing; past tense and past participle biased, biassed;

Forms: see bias n.

Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: bias n.

Etymology: < bias n. Compare biased adj., which is earlier in most senses. With sense 5 compare also earlier biasing n. 4 and biasing adj. 3.Compare Old French, Middle French, French biaiser to cause to slant (a1320), to slant (1402 in en byaisant slanting, oblique), (of a glance) to divert (a1590), to hedge (1655), Old Occitan biaissar to slant, to turn away (first half of the 12th cent.).

a. transitive. To exert an influence on (a person or thing), often unduly or unfairly; esp. to cause to become partial or biased; to prejudice.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > belief > expressed belief, opinion > bias, prejudice > judge with prejudice [verb (transitive)] > cause prejudice in

prevent1551

forestall?1571

bias1581

preoccupate1582

prejudicate1602

prejudice1610

pre-engage1646

prepossess1647

preoccupya1658

tamper1687

1581 W. Allen Apol. Two Eng. Colleges f. 4^v The preiudice and partialitie of the present condition..doth byas and peruert the external actions of many worldings euen against their owne natural inclination, knowledge, and conscience.

1684 Bp. G. Burnet tr. T. More Utopia 151 Men whom no Advantages can biass.

a1711 T. Ken Hymnarium 108 in Wks. (1721) II. By Grace our Wills may byass'd be.

1875 P. G. Hamerton Intellect. Life (ed. 2) ii. iii. 66 Artists are seldom good critics of art, because their own practice biasses them, and they are not disinterested.

1924 Fortnightly Rev. 1 Apr. 466 The thorough aversion which Lamb felt for Byron's character may have biased him against his poetry.

2006 Current Direct. Psychol. Sci. 15 30/2 One theory is that children approach the word-learning problem with a set of constraints or principles biasing them to entertain certain hypotheses about word reference over others.

†b. transitive. To deflect or divert (the mind, attention, behaviour, etc.) to another focus or path; to cause (a person) to incline towards or away from a course of action, an opinion, etc. Also occasionally intransitive: to deviate from an established mode of behaviour, thought, etc. Obsolete except as merged in sense 1a.

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > inaction > not doing > abstaining or refraining from action > abstain or refrain from (action) [verb (transitive)] > avoid or shun > turn aside from > cause to

writhea1400

wrya1400

reflecta1500

reverta1500

withstand1508

reversec1540

declinea1555

evert1569

deflecta1575

divert1609

bias1628

blank1640

avert1697

shunt1858

sidetrack1887

ride1908

1628 W. Prynne Vnlouelinesse of Louelockes To Rdr. sig. a2 They finde..their affections and practise, biassed to these Effeminate guises, Lockes, and Cultures of the World.

1641 T. Goodwin Tryall Christians Growth ii. 120 We shall..not be biased aside.

1645 City Alarum 20 Many great Patriots in the beginning have since byased.

1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 491. ⁋2 Without any Vice that could biass him from the Execution of Justice.

1895 Esoteric Sept. 140 The soul, which is the conscious, thinking, intelligent man, rules the body with vigor, never bending to pain or biasing his course of life for the sake of pleasure.

†c. transitive. To persuade or induce (a person) to do or agree to something. Also with over. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > will > motivation > persuasion > persuade (a person) [verb (transitive)] > persuade or prevail upon > to do something

procurea1325

draw1425

inducec1450

draw1531

obtain1558

reduce?a1560

weighc1571

charma1592

obtain1606

bias1660

gain1681

import1825

wangle1926

1660 J. Featley Succinct Hist. Life & Death D. Featley 3 in Featlæi Παλιγγενεσία Neither propinquity of blood, nor..any thing else shall byass me to write a voluntary untruth.

1722 D. Defoe Moll Flanders 289 She soon byass'd me to consent.

1813 R. Edington Treat. Coal Trade ix. 209 The coal-heavers, and hospital agent were all biassed over by the captain.

1851 Life & Advent. Theodore Smartville 14/1 Don't be biassed over to anything that won't suit us. Lawyers are such persuading people.

2. transitive. Bowls. To give (a bowl) a bias (bias n. 2), so that it takes a curving course or path when rolled. Later (more generally): to roll or play (a ball) in such a way that it takes a curving course or path. Cf. biased adj. 2. rare after 17th cent.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > bowls or bowling > play bowls [verb (transitive)] > types of play

bias1641

draw1868

trail1908

1641 T. Warmstry Pax Vobis 4 As a Bowle that is well weighed, and biast, but is at home before its time, and so over-runnes the Mistris.

1657 J. Bramhall Castigations Mr. Hobbes 87 The bowle doth not bias it self.

1675 F. Fane Love in Dark Epil. Like Bowls ill byass'd, still the more they run, They're further off, then when they first begun.

1816 W. Lambert Instr. & Rules Cricket 19 Taking notice how the hand was held when the Ball was delivered, you will get master of it, so as to bias it with pleasure.

1868 ‘S. Daryl’ Routledge's Handbk. Quoits & Bowls 34 In the old days it was the habit to have the bowls loaded on the inside with lead so as to bias them, but this practice has completely died out.

1993 A. Humez et al. Zero to Lazy Eight (1994) 148 It is often necessary to ‘bias’ later bowls—i.e., bowl them on a curve so as to get around other players' bowls already in the way of the jack.

3. intransitive. To lean, turn, etc., physically in a particular direction or towards a particular place; to slant or tilt in a specified direction. In early use also figurative: †to have an inclination or tendency; to be inclined to a specified behaviour, opinion, etc. (obsolete). Also transitive: to cause (something) to lean, turn, etc., in a particular direction.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > will > wish or inclination > be inclined [verb (intransitive)]

inclinea1413

willc1443

please?1467

regard?1542

fantasy1548

depend1586

to be bent1626

point1638

bias1656

to be on1886

the world > existence and causation > existence > state or condition > tendency > tend or incline [verb (intransitive)] > go in a certain direction

incline?a1475

alien?1541

propend1545

sway1556

wing1617

lie1633

look1647

vergea1661

bias1683

preponderate1693

give1840

canalize1927

1656 R. Sanderson 20 Serm. 222 The hearts of such as byasse too much that way.

1683 J. Phillips tr. G.-J. Grelot Late Voy. Constantinople 120 The Stairs which now ascend byassing, which formerly ascended streight upright from one of the large oriental Pillars to the other.

1780 H. Croft Love & Madness xliv. 106 You have seen people wreathing and twisting and biassing themselves, after a bowl which they have just delivered.

1841 McDouall's Chartist Jrnl. & Trade's Advocate 2 Oct. 211/2 They will not bias the wheel of the barrow in any particular direction.

1905 Daily Chron. 2 Sept. 5/3 The carriages in the middle of the train seemed all at once to bias over on to the down platform.

2009 J. E. Seiffert Fearless Knitting: Workbk 125 As you knit, the upper and lower patterns will produce a biased fabric—one that slants. In the lower pattern, which slants to the left, the fabric will bias to the right.

4. transitive. In dressmaking, needlework, etc. †(a) To use biasing (biasing n. 3) to strengthen or secure (gathers, pleats, etc.) (obsolete). (b) To position (fabric, or a cut, seam, etc.) on the bias (see on the bias) (now rare).

ΘΚΠ

starch1390

scour1467

burl1483

waterc1500

calender1513

shoot1532

press1555

gum1612

reimbale1623

strike1701

bias1838

pad1839

spirit1854

bray1879

stream1883

crisp1892

block1905

Schreiner1905

mercerize1911

1838 Workwoman's Guide: Instr. Apparel vi. 134 Bias the front and back in four rows below the collar.

1883 Monthly Rec. Fashion June 103/2 It is..wrong in principle to bias the back-seam at half the waist up on the front line.

1934 J. W. Stephenson Drapery Cutting & Making (ed. 4) 41/2 By biasing the lining as indicated the form can be shaped into a cone without the lining developing wrinkles.

5. transitive. Mechanics and Electronics. To give a bias (bias n. 5b, 7a) to or set the bias of (a component or device).

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electronics > electronic phenomena > processes > [verb (transitive)] > apply bias to

bias1875

1875 E. W. Siemens & C. W. Frischen U.S. Patent 161,561 2/2 The operator, by depressing the right-hand knob T², brings the weight t² to bear, so as to bias the segment R² upward.

1909 Proc. Amer. Inst. Electr. Engineers 28 967 Roughly, the value of this exciting current, when transformers are magnetically biased, is the value of the normal exciting current added to the direct current.

1944 Electronic Engin. 16 336 Bias the valve so that the anode current is normally zero or small.

2009 C. Shamieh & G. McComb Electronics for Dummies (ed. 2) vi. 131 Biasing the transistor is like opening a valve that controls the flow of current through the transistor.

6. transitive. Statistics. Of a method of sampling, measurement, analysis, etc.: to distort (a statistical result); to introduce bias (bias n. 6) into (a method of sampling, measurement, analysis, etc.).

ΚΠ

1922 Jrnl. Royal Statist. Soc. 85 415 Either process appears to bias the resulting figures in favour of the production of an eight-year cycle.

1956 Biometrika 43 418 The application of this rule controls the probability of biasing a result by failing to reject an outlier.

1975 Jrnl. Law & Econ. 18 496 Measurement error in C biases the estimator towards zero.

2019 Times (Nexis) 13 Sept. (News section) 15 By not controlling for which testicle they are measuring they could be inadvertently biasing their results.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2021; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	bias
释义	biasn.adj.adv. Brit. /ˈbʌɪəs/, U.S. /ˈbaɪəs/ Inflections: Plural biases, biasses. Forms: 1500s byess, 1500s–1600s biace, 1500s–1600s biase, 1500s–1600s biasse, 1500s–1600s byace, 1500s–1700s byasse, 1500s–1800s byas, 1500s– bias, 1600s biais, 1600s biaz, 1600s biaze, 1600s–1700s byass, 1600s–1800s biass. Origin: A borrowing from French. Etymon: French biais. Etymology: < Middle French biaiz, biese, Middle French, French biais (with reference to textiles) oblique cut (13th cent. in Old French in de biais (cut) obliquely), (odd or unusual) direction or arrangement (15th cent.), (adjective) oblique, diagonal (14th cent. in geometry), (figuratively) oblique (late 16th cent.), probably < Old Occitan biais (noun) obliqueness (first half of the 12th cent., also sometimes as adjective with the sense ‘pointed’), of uncertain origin; perhaps < an unattested post-classical Latin form biaxius having two axes < classical Latin bi-* bi- comb. form + axis axis n.¹ + -ius, suffix forming adjectives.Further Romance forms. Compare (partly < Old Occitan and partly < Old French) Catalan biaix (noun) obliqueness (13th cent.), Sardinian biasciu (adjective) oblique, Italian †biaso (adjective) that moves on an oblique path (a1311 in an isolated source from Genoa, also as noun in per biaso across), biescio , biegio (adjective) lacking sense or discernment (13th cent., also as noun), †sbiescio (noun) (physical) obliqueness (17th cent. in a sbiescio obliquely). Specific senses. With in the bias, on the bias at sense A. 1a compare French de biais (13th cent. in Old French with reference to the cut of a fabric; 14th cent. or earlier in geometry) and also en biais (14th cent. in geometry, or earlier). With sense B. 1a compare Middle French ligne biese diagonal line (14th cent., although this does not appear to be a fixed collocation). With use as adverb compare earlier biaswise adv. and biasways adv. The specific use in the game of bowls (see sense A. 2) developed in English and probably either underlies some later senses or influenced them. Variant forms. N.E.D. (1887) records a 16th cent. plural form bias (apparently reflecting the endingless plural in French), although unambiguous supporting evidence appears to be lacking. A. n. 1. a. A slanting or sloping line, a diagonal; spec. a (notional) line running diagonally or at an angle to the warp or weft of a woven fabric; (also) an edge, cut, seam, etc., of a fabric following such a line. Now chiefly in on the bias (formerly also in bias, in the bias): (with reference to woven fabric) diagonally or at an angle to the warp or weft.Fabric stretches most along the true bias (true bias n.), which runs at 45 degrees to the warp and weft. A bias at any other angle may be distinguished as a garment bias or dressmaker's bias. ΘΚΠ the world > space > relative position > inclination > [noun] > that which inclines > a line bias1530 the world > relative properties > number > geometry > line > [noun] > diagonal bias1530 diagonal1571 diagon1656 diagonial1668 diagony1690 the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > treating or processing textile fabric > [adverb] > cut on the bias bias1811 on the cross1872 on the bias1880 1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement iii. f. xx Byas of an hose, bias. c1570 Ld. Sempill 3 Taverners ix Now gif ye..shape it precyslie, The ellwand wald be grit & lang, Gif the byess be wyde, gar lay it on side. 1697 tr. R. Descartes Use Geom. Playing Cards 4 An Oblique Line, which is neither Horizontal, nor a Plumb-line, but of a Bias, as F G. 1715 J. Hawkins Cocker's Eng. Dict. (ed. 2) at Ellipsis A crooked line in the bias. 1819 La Belle Assemblée Aug. 85/2 Another ball dress..is trimmed with full puckered net..confined by stripes, in bias, of light blue satin. 1873 Little Rock (Arkansas) Republican 22 Oct. The waist proposed here..gathers into a belt five or six inches wide, with gores (or darts or biases) to fit the figure. 1880 Melbourne Bull. 29 Oct. 5/1 The clothing..may not be cut on the bias. 1973 L. Olsheim Compl. Bk. Handicrafts 56/2 The strips may be cut on the straight grain or bias of the fabric. 2000 Salina (Kansas) Jrnl. 21 May a7/4 U.S. [route] 56..that cuts a bias across Kansas from Mission Hills to Elkhart. 2007 Vanity Fair Apr. 194/1 Hems were hand-rolled and hand-piped, edges picoted, cuffs cut on the bias. b. A piece of fabric cut diagonally or at an angle to its warp or weft, typically to allow greater flexibility or elasticity, and used esp. as edging or binding. Cf. bias binding n. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > [noun] > piece of > other pieces piece?c1430 fasel1440 speckc1440 pane1459 rag?1536 remnant1571 fag end1607 swatch1647 cut1753 rigg1769 hag's teeth1777 bias1824 spetch1828 shredlet1840 bias tape1884 short end1960 1824 Morning Post 31 Aug. The fashionists surround the brims of rose-coloured..or white crape hats with a broad bias. 1860 Weekly Georgia Tel. (Macon, Georgia) 20 Sept. 5/7 The pique dresses are opened over an elegant petticoat, and should be trimmed round with a wide bias of the same color as the pattern on the dress. 1920 Garment Manufacturer's Index Sept. 42/2 A severe little bolero-blouse of cream cashmere, the simplicity of which is relieved by broad bias of dark blue. 2008 A. M. Horner Seams to Me 100/2 You'll want to move pretty slowly, gently stretching the bias a bit as you sew to form it smoothly around the curved edges. 2. a. (a) Bowls. The curving course or path taken by a bowl when rolled, due to its shape or (formerly) weighting (see sense A. 2a(b)); the tendency of a bowl to take such a course. ΚΠ 1566 T. Churchyard Lament. Freyndshyp (single sheet) Nor sure the byas of the bowle Goeth not so strayghte on mayster blocke. 1796 G. M. Woodward Eccentric Excurs. i. 11 The anxiety attending the right bias of the bowl towards the jack is represented in Compartment 4 [of the illustrations]. 1864 Athenæum No. 1920. 209/1 A bias that should reach the jack. 1907 F. W. Hackwood Old Eng. Sports xi. 176 The bias may be denoted by numbers: No. 1 being nearly straight, No. 2 a narrow bias, No. 3 a medium bias, No. 4 a full bias, and No. 5 a wide bias. 2001 Press (Christchurch, N.Z.) (Nexis) 1 Aug. 63 The bowls, which came from the manufacturer with too narrow a bias, are back in their bags. (b) Bowls. A feature or property of a bowl which causes it to take a curving course or path when rolled; spec. (in early use) a weight inserted on one side of the bowl; (later) the shape or construction of the bowl, being slightly flatter on one side and more rounded on the other. Sometimes also: impetus given to the bowl by the player in order to direct it in the desired path. In early use frequently figurative and in figurative contexts. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > bowls or bowling > [noun] > bowl > manner of construction bias1570 1570 in tr. Life 70 Abps. Canterb. B v. (margin) As you haue sett youre bias, so runneth your bowle. 1625 F. Bacon Ess. (new ed.) 136 Which set a Bias vpon the Bowle, of their owne Petty Ends. 1692 R. Bentley Matter & Motion cannot Think 35 If it [sc. a Bowl] be made with a Byas, that may decline it a little from a straight Line. 1714 C. Johnson Country Lasses ii. ii Joy shall be the jack, pleasure the bias, and we'll rowl after happiness to the last moment of life. 1782 J. Douglas Travelling Anecd. I. 237 How often, when we give the bowl its truest bias to arrive at the jack of success, does the rub intervene, and a cursed obliquity disappoint all our happiness. 1851 A. W. Hare Serm. I. viii. 133 Just as a bowl with a bias, if you try to send it straight, the longer it rolls, the further it will swerve. 1927 Evening Tel. (Dundee) 23 June (Late Extra ed.) 2/5 The keener the green gets the more bias a bowl requires to reach the object. 1994 Sunday Age (Melbourne) (Nexis) 16 Oct. 8 They [sc. bowls] are then shaped by machines..that remove imperfections and add the all-important bias. †b. In other sports and games. The tendency of a ball to take a curving course or path when delivered; impetus given to a ball to cause it to take such a path. Also (Cricket): spin imparted to a ball when bowling; the break of a delivery after pitching (cf. bias bowling n. (a) at Compounds 3). Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > bowling > [noun] > a ball bowled > properties of length1772 pace?1801 bias1822 pitch1833 line1961 1822 W. Hazlitt Table-talk II. vii. 158 The skittle-player bends his body to give a bias to the bowl he has already delivered from his hand. 1833 J. Mitford in Gentleman's Mag. Sept. 239/1 His balls..have a very perplexing bias, and require a most accomplished batter to meet them. 1866 Frank Leslie's Illustr. Newspaper 15 Sept. 405/1 His style of pitching is the medium-paced delivery, he imparting considerable of a bias to the ball. 1921 Ld. Harris Few Short Runs v. 135 The bowler was not slow to take advantage of the opening by developing anew the old ‘bias’ or break from leg. 3. a. A tendency, inclination, or leaning towards a particular characteristic, behaviour, etc.; a propensity. Also: something, esp. an action or practice, to which a person is inclined or predisposed. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > behaviour > customary or habitual mode of behaviour > [noun] > habitual course of action bias?1571 dogtrot1682 the world > existence and causation > existence > state or condition > tendency > [noun] > a tendency spirita1425 inclination1526 bias?1571 vein1585 habitude1603 ply1605 nitency1662 result1663 tend1663 penchant1673 nisus1699 hank1721 squint1736 patent1836 subjectivism1845 lurch1854 biasness1872 tilt1975 ?1571 tr. G. Buchanan Detectioun Marie Quene of Scottes sig. Eiij She commeth to her own byace [L. ad se redit], and openly sheweth hir owne naturall conditions. 1620 F. Quarles Jonah (1638) 38 To change the byas of her crooked wayes. 1827 J. C. Hare & A. W. Hare Guesses at Truth I. 40 A proof of our natural bias to evil. 1882 York Herald 7 July 6/2 Mr Gladstone said he would leave it to the Committee to consider whether any provision of that nature should be adopted; but at present his bias was to leave it to the good sense of the presiding officer in the case. 1939 Western Gaz. 3 Nov. (N. Dorset ed.) 11/3 In average soils lime is needed once in three years. In those that have a natural bias towards sourness, biennial applications are desirable. 2004 BBC Wildlife Mag. May 65/1 Though many of the parrot species as a whole didn't show a strong bias for left- or right-footedness, right-footed birds had greater language abilities. b. That which sways or influences a person in their actions, perceptions, etc.; a controlling or directing influence. Now rare or merged in sense A. 3c.In quot. a1616 as part of an extended metaphor; cf. sense A. 2a(b). ΘΚΠ society > authority > power > influence > [noun] powerc1300 authorityc1405 voice1433 swaya1510 gravity1534 force1582 bias1587 interest1600 prevalence1612 prevailance1631 pondus1638 prevailancya1649 prevailency1650 influence1652 prevalency1652 weight1710 prevailingness1757 holding1770 mojo1923 clout1958 muscle1965 1587 G. Turberville Tragicall Tales f. 103^v That to the end he might the maid Unto his bias bring. a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) ii. i. 578 This vile drawing byas, This sway of motion, this commoditie. View more context for this quotation 1660 W. Secker Nonsuch Professor 430 The love of God is the byas of a Volunteer. 1705 G. Stanhope Paraphr. Epist. & Gospels II. 196 The Bribery and Byass of Sense and Flesh. 1851 W. E. Gladstone State Prosecutions Neapolitan Govt. 24 He could not possibly be under any bias. 1994 Jrnl. Japanese Stud. 20 227 Western scholars of Japanese literature,..who misread Heian texts under the bias of their own cultural dispositions. c. Tendency to favour or dislike a person or thing, especially as a result of a preconceived opinion; partiality, prejudice. Also: an instance of this; any preference or attitude that affects outlook or behaviour, esp. by inhibiting impartial consideration or judgement.See also confirmation bias n., gender bias n., implicit bias n., unconscious bias n.Now the usual sense. ΚΠ 1731 G. Medley tr. P. Kolb Present State Cape Good-Hope I. ix. 122 The Matter is soon decided, but rarely with Impartiality, for the Appetites of his Judges give 'em a strong Bias against him. 1768 W. Blackstone Comm. Laws Eng. III. 361 The law will not suppose a possibility of biass or favour in a judge. 1878 W. E. H. Lecky Hist. Eng. 18th Cent. II. vi. 179 They could have no possible bias in favour of the Irish. 1907 Arena Apr. 399/1 Mr. McKerrow's paper from first to last shows a strong bias in favor of private-ownership. 1976 Times 30 June 4/3 The company..certainly has no bias for or against either union. 2002 New Yorker 14 Oct. 171/2 Toward the end of her provostship, the United States Department of Labor began an investigation into bias against women and minorities at Stanford. d. In South Korean entertainment (esp. K-pop): a person's favourite pop star, pop group, actor, etc.; a fan's favourite member of a pop group.Recorded earliest as a modifier. ΚΠ 2009 @MissMaryCherry 7 Nov. in twitter.com (accessed 26 Feb. 2021) Ahhh what my K-Pop bias boy group does best well besides singing..butt bumping fanservice on stage! 2016 @cyxl_ 10 Aug. in twitter.com (accessed 9 Mar. 2021) From all male korean actor my bias is JI CHANG WOOK. 2020 A. Raj Understand K-pop 121 Whenever an idol publicly declares their relationship, there are some fans, who would go on to make long Twitter threads on how they are hurt and disappointed because their bias is dating or—gasp!—getting married. †4. In the terminology of William Petty: a centre of influence within an atom governing its interactions with other atoms. Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > physics > mechanics > force > gravity > [noun] > point to which bodies tend centre of gravity1624 centre of attraction1654 bias1674 1674 W. Petty Disc. before Royal Soc. 126 I suppose in every atom..two poles in its superficies, and a Central point within its substance, which I call its Byas... I suppose that the Byas of one Atome may have a tendency towards the Byas of another near it, and that the Byasses of many Atoms may tend to some common point without them. 5. a. A physical inclination in a specified direction; a tendency to lean, turn, etc., to one side. ΘΚΠ the world > existence and causation > existence > state or condition > tendency > [noun] > to some physical condition or action inclinationa1398 disposition1398 propension1612 propensitya1623 bias1819 perpensity1871 1819 J. T. Koster Descr. New Method Constructing Wheel Carriages 11 When two flat wheels with short naves were made to turn round upon the ends of a straight axle-tree..they would soon take a bias to one side. 1862 A. Trollope in Cornhill Mag. Oct. 558 It was a long, thin nose, which..had a preponderating bias towards the left side. 1962 Galpin Soc. Jrnl. 15 51 The down pipe of the crook is given a very slight bias to the right of the vertical, thus canting the instrument towards the left hand when held naturally. 2012 S. Hayek & R. M. Levy Neurostimulation for Treatm. Chronic Pain I. (e-book ed.) The implant should be placed midline in cases of axial symptomatology or with a bias to one side for patients with unilateral pain. b. Mechanics. A tendency to move in a certain direction or way, given to an armature, pointer, etc. (e.g. by a spring, weight, or magnetic field). ΚΠ 1856 Brit. Patent 3059 (1857) 13 By reversing the currents, the bar f is thrown from side to side, and remains on that side to which it was last attracted. A spring or small separate permanent magnet..may be used to give the necessary bias to the one side or the other. 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXIII. 221/2 With the tongue set neutral, having no bias either to the spacing or marking side—the relay will give good signals with 1½ milliamperes of current. 1970 Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 5 May 147/1 A lock collar at one end of the spring provides an adjustment of the bias again at the deflector arm and its brake. 2006 M. Schwartz New Materials, Processes, & Methods Technol. (2010) iv. 253 The shrinkage of the wire pulls the latch piece upward, against the downward bias of the reset spring. 6. Statistics. Distortion of a statistical result arising from the method of sampling, measurement, analysis, etc.; an instance of this. Also: something that tends to result in such distortion.See also Malmquist bias n., protopathic bias n., response bias n., self-selection bias n. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > number > probability or statistics > [noun] > distortion of result systematic error1826 bias1847 the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > inaccuracy, inexactness > [noun] > in calculation > instance of > in statistics bias1847 1847 J. F. W. Herschel Results Astron. Observ. ii. 283 It becomes very evident that these causes alone are not sufficient to account for the discordances—and that there exists a systematic bias, from whatever cause arising, which has affected all the twenty-feet measurements. 1900 London, Edinb. & Dublin Philos. Mag. 50 167 The results show a bias from the theoretical results, 5 and 6 points occurring more frequently than they should do. 1969 Milbank Memorial Fund Q. 47 195 Survey researchers are necessarily concerned about possible bias in their survey data resulting from inability to interview all persons selected by the sampling plan. 2019 Guardian (Nexis) 30 May (Environment section) Measurements were more often made from warmer engine room intakes than from buckets lowered over the side of ships. This has resulted in a bias, inflating estimated surface temperatures in the early-to-mid 1940s. 7. a. Electronics. A voltage, current, or other parameter which is set to establish a threshold or operating point for a component or device (such as a diode, transistor, or vacuum tube); (also) the resultant threshold or operating point itself.See also grid bias n. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electronics > electronic phenomena > [noun] > steady voltage applied to device bias1920 1920 Amer. Jrnl. Physiol. 52 424 The grid was given an initial ‘bias’, i.e., a positive or negative potential, by inserting one or more dry cells in series between the slide-wire and grid. 1937 Bell Syst. Techn. Jrnl. 16 171 A direct current was used as a bias to bring the recording flux to the most suitable part of the curve. 1987 A. Fuller Ferrites ix. 200 They then use a particular inhomogeneous magnetic bias on a continuous ferrite substrate to produce a circulator with similar performance over the band 8 to 12 GHz. 2020 C. Shamieh Electronics for Dummies (ed. 3) x. 182 Blocking capacitor C1 helps maintain the bias of the transistor by filtering out DC offsets in the input signal before the signal gets to the transistor. b. In recording sound on magnetic tape or (in early use) wire: an electronic signal at ultrasonic frequencies added to an input audio signal to reduce distortion and noise; (also) the magnetic field generated by this added signal.In tape types as high bias, metal bias, and normal bias.See quot. 1937 at sense A. 7a for earlier use of a steady bias in magnetic recording. ΘΚΠ society > communication > record > recording or reproducing sound or visual material > sound recording and reproduction > [noun] > waveform on which signal is superimposed bias1941 the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electronics > electronic phenomena > [noun] > waveform > types of waveform saw tooth1933 bias1941 square wave1944 ramp1945 the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electronics > electronic phenomena > [noun] > radiation field > field generated by wave-form bias1941 1941 D. E. Wooldridge U.S. Patent 2,235,132 1/2 As the tape..passes the pole-pieces..it will be subjected to both the high frequency bias flux and the variable signal flux which leaves the tape variously magnetized in accordance with the signals. 1949 J. G. Frayne & H. Wolfe Elements Sound Recording xxix. 588 The unmagnetized wire or tape is subjected in the recording magnet to a field compounded of the audio signal and a high-frequency component called the bias. 1986 Making Music Apr. 35/1 Vesta recommend TDK SA-X or Maxell XL115 cassettes (ie high bias types only, as usual). 2012 J. Kadis Sci. Sound Recording viii. 124 Adjustment of the amount of bias added to the record signal gives the engineer the ability to select a balance between noise performance, distortion, and bandwidth. 8. An offset in the reading or output of a sensor or electronic device. ΚΠ 1949 Photofact Television Course (H. W. Sams & Co.) iii. xi. 130/1 The direct current component or ‘bias’ corresponds to the average illumination of the scene being televised. 1963 Q. M. Hansen et al. Study Inertial Navigation Errors during Reentry Earth's Atmosphere (NASA Techn. Note D–1772) 19 Using the outputs of the accelerometers as zero above the atmosphere, so that the biases are not integrated prior to reentry, can greatly reduce the effects of accelerometer bias. 1987 D. C. Zimmerman & H. H. Cudney in L. Meirovitch Dynamics & Control Large Struct. 281 An additional practical consideration in integrating the accelerometer signal is that the DC bias must be made as small as possible, or the bias will integrate to infinity as time goes to infinity. 2006 J. V. Odom in J. R. Heckenlively & G. B. Arden Princ. & Pract. Clin. Electrophysiol. Vision (ed. 2) xviii. 257/1 The bias of an amplifier refers to the voltage output of the amplifier when the input voltage is zero. B. adj. 1. †a. Slanting, oblique; spec. designating a line which is a diagonal, or which marks a hypotenuse. Cf. biasways adv., biaswise adv. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > space > relative position > inclination > [adjective] embelifc1400 inclining?c1400 oblique?a1425 inclinate?1440 hieldingc1480 inclined?a1500 bias1551 overthwart1594 sidelong1598 squinty1598 skew1609 traverse1609 skewed1611 obliquous1614 squint1703 inclinated1751 slanting1768 slanted1770 slant1776 aslant1791 diagonal1796 rakish1830 slantindicular1832 slantwise1856 slaunchways1913 slanty1928 1551 R. Record Pathway to Knowl. ii. xxxii By the Bias line, I meane that lyne, whiche in any square figure dooth runne from corner to corner. 1551 R. Record Pathway to Knowl. i. sig. Aiv And like waies in this figure there are three lines, the grounde lyne whiche is A. B. the plumme line that is A. C. and the bias line, whiche goeth from the one of them to the other, and lieth against the right corner in such a figure whiche is here. C. B. 1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 1169 Her oblique and biase declination. 1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory ii. 351 Some shells are crooked and byas. b. With reference to woven fabric: cut diagonally or at an angle to the warp or weft; oriented according to the bias; made with fabric cut or oriented in this way. Also spec.: designating a long, narrow piece of bias-cut fabric used as edging or binding. Cf. bias binding n., bias tape n. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > [adjective] > bias cut bias1600 bias-cut1821 1600 in J. Arnold Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd (1988) 256/2 Item one Mantle of tawnye satten bordered with an enbroderie of venice golde and silver and enbrodered allover with bias Cloudes. 1784 Parker's Gen. Advertiser 21 July (table) Sattin Bias Cord. 1815 La Belle Assemblée Aug. 82/1 This pelisse is trimmed..with byas white satin laid on in folds. 1895 Daily Inter Ocean (Chicago) 30 Oct. The skirt was trimmed with bias folds of the goods, and the bodice had a fitted back and loose pointed jacket fronts of the bias serge. 1914 Altoona (Pa.) Mirror 7 Aug. 14/3 The really smart flare collar for your frocks from now on..must have a bias edging of..some dark contrasting tone. 1940 Daily Tel. 6 May 8/6 Some skirts look very smart with..backs that jut a single bias seam from straight fronts. 2019 Brisbane News (Nexis) 18 Dec. 8 I'll be wearing the label's Roxie puff sleeve bias dress. †2. Rounded like a biased bowl used in the game of bowls. Cf. sense A. 2a(b). Obsolete.Apparently an isolated use. ΘΚΠ the world > space > shape > curvature > curved surface > [adjective] > convex swellingc1000 gibbousc1400 round?1523 convex?a1560 convexed1578 bias1609 out-bowed1613 outbent1625 full1627 outbowing1657 gibbose1682 rounded1712 bulging1812 pot-bellied1814 balloony1861 bombed1872 bombous1878 1609 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida iv. vi. 8 Thy sphered Bias cheeke. View more context for this quotation C. adv. 1. a. Obliquely, diagonally; at an angle. Now rare (U.S. in later use). ΘΚΠ the world > space > relative position > inclination > [adverb] sidelonga1398 aslanta1400 aslopec1400 embelifc1400 a-sloutc1440 sleetc1440 slant1495 obliquely1503 shoringc1503 a-swash1530 biaswise1545 biasways1556 slantingly1570 sideways1572 slantwise1573 avelinges1577 bias?1578 askant1602 slopely1605 slantinga1625 oblique1667 bias-way1702 skew1706 slantly1719 inclinably1760 slantways1828 slantindicular1831 slantindicularly1834 skewly1896 slaunchways1933 the world > space > direction > [adverb] > off the direct line > obliquely asidec1369 aslanta1400 slant1495 obliquely1503 asklenta1540 askew1565 slantingly1570 slantwise1573 wry1575 bias?1578 askance1590 askant1602 slantinga1625 asquint1645 across1700 slantly1719 akimboc1796 slantways1828 aslantwise1852 slantingways1899 the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > sideways movement or a sideways movement > [adverb] > obliquely aslanta1400 sideslepes?a1400 embelifc1400 slant1495 obliquely1503 slantling?1521 askance1530 asklenta1540 biaswise1545 askew1565 wry1575 bias?1578 slentwise1579 overthwartly1591 asquint1645 transversally1648 aslope1667 slantways1828 skeow-ways1869 slantingways1899 ?1578 W. Patten Let. Entertainm. Killingwoorth 31 Woold run hiz race byas among the thickest of the throng. 1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. i. iv. 122 That rich Guirdle..Which God gaue Nature..To weare it biaze, buckled ouerthwart-her. 1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. ix. 376/2 The definitions of the Principles of Geometrical Lines are here next to be described... f is a perpendicular or plumb Line, a Line down right. And an Oblique Line, which runs Byas, or athwart. 1880 Daily Cairo (Illinois) Bull. 26 June The stout lady roused up from her nap, set her bonnet bias across her eyebrows. 1906 Country Life in Amer. Jan. 334/2 Seven-eighths-inch curly maple flooring laid bias on the outsides. 1960 Clovis (New Mexico) News-Jrnl. 27 July 6/1 A lifted animated bang that flows bias across the forehead. b. With reference to woven fabric: diagonally or at an angle to the warp or weft; = on the bias at sense A. 1a. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > treating or processing textile fabric > [adverb] > cut on the bias bias1811 on the cross1872 on the bias1880 1811 Walker's Hibernian Mag. May 265/1 The skirts are made of one entire width of muslin, cut bias. 1889 Goodholme's Domest. Cycl. (new ed.) 77/2 Take a square of the desired material, fold it bias..then gather it along this diagonal. 1981 Globe & Mail (Canada) (Nexis) 28 Apr. There are always parts cut bias to mold to the body. 2014 N. Palacios Fashion with Passion v. 55/2 A dress cut bias uses a lot of fabric. †2. Away from the proper, anticipated, or intended course; awry, amiss. Chiefly in to go (also run) bias. Cf. to go sideways at sideways adv. and adj. Phrases 3b. Obsolete (U.S. in later use). ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > lack of truth, falsity > [adverb] > in a wrong way, amiss on missc1225 overthwarta1382 a-crookc1500 awrya1513 wide?1529 astray1535 across1559 bias1600 outa1641 beside the bridge1652 on the wrong side of the post1728 abroad1806 off1843 way off1882 off beam1941 up the boohai?1946 1600 S. Rowlands Letting of Humors Blood i. 47 His tongue runs byas on affaires. 1633 G. Herbert Temple: Sacred Poems 64 When the wide world runnes bias. 1872 A. M. Diaz William Henry & his Friends 176 I've trembled for fear of seeing him take advantage..for fear of finding something in him,—something that went bias. 1913 J. Hannon tr. P. L'Ermite Mighty Friend 566 The blade went bias, alas, and in the next result Monsieur Soupot and Monsieur Soupot's nose parted company for evermore. Phrases †P1. against the bias: contrary to expectation or inclination. Obsolete. ΚΠ a1586 Sir P. Sidney Apol. Poetrie (1595) sig. K3 To finde a matter quite mistaken, and goe downe the hill agaynst the byas, in the mouth of some such men. 1597 W. Shakespeare Richard II iii. iv. 5 Twil make me thinke the world is full of rubs, And that my fortune runs against the bias . View more context for this quotation 1675 T. Shadwell Psyche i. 9 Must we against our own affections fight, And quite against the Bias bend the will? P2. †a. out of (also from, off) (one's) bias: in or into a disturbed or upset state; not in a normal condition or frame of mind. Frequently in to throw (a person) off his or her bias and variants: to disconcert, upset, or confuse (a person). Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > order > disorder > confusion or disorder > in confusion or disorder [phrase] out of (also from, off) (one's) bias1590 all over the place1719 all over the shop1866 all over the show1888 in a clutter1890 1590 R. Greene Mourning Garment 20 The King is out of his bias. 1659 T. Lushington Resurrection Rescued 8 Such strange opinions as would turn the whole world out of bias. 1740 S. Richardson Pamela II. 209 There is no putting him out of his Byas. He is a regular Piece of Clock-work. 1752 D. Hume Polit. Disc. ii. 30 Superstition, which throws the Government off its bias. 1844 Times 15 Apr. 6/2 Even he had been thrown off his bias when his own bill..had been put into his hand. 1927 Daily Mail 23 Apr. 19/3 John was thrown completely off his bias. †b. from (also out of) the bias: not directly relevant; beside the point. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > relationship > relevance or pertinence > [phrase] > irrelevant of purpose (also (out) of (a) (set) purpose)a1382 wide of (also from) the mark1536 neither off nor on1549 from the purpose1561 from (also out of) the bias1600 from the matter1658 (off) at, in, upon a tangent1825 1600 T. Dekker Shomakers Holiday sig. D3 Wel maister, al this is from the bias, do you remember the ship. 1642 J. Howell Instr. Forreine Travell xi. 142 Here it will not be much out of the byas, to insert..a few verses. Compounds C1. a. Electronics. General use as a modifier (in sense A. 7). ΚΠ 1932 F. E. Terman Radio Engin. xi. 392 The regeneration increases as the total amplification A₁A₂ and the bias impedance Zc are increased. 1956 C. G. Westcott Tape Recorders vi. 81 The bias oscillator serves the all-important function of making linear and distortion-free low-noise recordings while erasing the tape. 1984 A. B. Grebene Bipolar & MOS Analog Integrated Circuit Design xi. 595 The optimum bias setting for minimum total harmonic distortion. 2015 J. X. Przybysz & D. L. Miller in P. Seidel Appl. Superconductivity II. x. 1120 The bias resistors compensate for the different voltages that develop on an active circuit. b. bias current n. Electronics the electric current which is sent or drawn through a component or device in setting its bias (sense A. 7). ΚΠ 1928 Gen. Electric Rev. Oct. 551/1 This greatly reduces the tube losses as the bias current I is then disposed of, thus eliminating the steady loss. 2005 M. A. Parker Physics Optoelectronics ii. 69 The output power below threshold is linear in the bias current. bias voltage n. Electronics the voltage applied or developed in setting the bias (sense A. 7) of a component or device. ΚΠ 1920 QST (Amer. Radio Relay League) Oct. 30/2 The proper load, bias voltage, and excitation voltage of a bulb oscillator, as well as the heating current and the plate generator voltage, are best determined by direct test. 1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 89/1 Bias voltage, generally, the mean potential of any electrode in a thermionic tube, measured with respect to the cathode. Specially applied to that of the control grid. 2019 @lukeweston 11 Mar. in twitter.com (accessed 16 Mar. 2020) Need to check what the right bias voltage is for these things. It will work a lot better with moderator on it, and an amplifier. C2. Originally and chiefly U.S. As a modifier, designating an attack or (violent) crime motivated by hatred or intolerance of another social group, usually on the basis of race, religion, or sexuality. Now chiefly in bias crime (cf. hate crime n.). ΚΠ 1954 N.Y. Times 13 Nov. (Late City ed.) 20/7 Bias attack on Ribicoff denied... John F. McCoy..pleaded innocent today to charges of attacking the Democratic Governor-elect, Abraham A. Ribicoff, on religious grounds in the election campaign. 1982 Corbin (Kentucky) Times-Tribune 15 Jan. 2/1 New laws imposing stiffer penalties on religious or racial vandals were enacted..by eight states, including the three states with the most such ‘bias crimes’. 1993 Time Internat. 18 Jan. 8/2 Local law-enforcement officials need to develop greater sensitivity toward bias offences. 2016 Herald-Times (Bloomington, Indiana) 19 Jan. a7/4 Jews, Muslims, people of color, LGBT people and the disabled—to name only five common targets of bias crimes—should feel secure..in any county or town. C3. bias binding n. a long, narrow strip of bias-cut cloth, typically used as a decorative edging or for binding a raw edge, hem, etc., to prevent fraying; (now also) a type of folded bias-cut ribbon made for this purpose (cf. bias tape n.). ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric manufactured in specific way > [noun] > of specific size > narrow > tape > for binding lear1382 binding1598 stay-tape1699 bias binding1825 bias tape1884 1825 La Belle Assemblée Jan. 29/1 A few black satin bonnets..are ornamented with puffs of satin, edged with bias bindings. 1927 New Butterick Dressmaker xix. 174 Bias bindings make attractive finishes either in the same or in a contrasting material or color. 2003 Quilter's Newslet. Mag. Sept. 29 Bind the quilt with bias binding, easing binding around the curves. bias bowl n. a bowl used in the game of bowls, having a bias (sense A. 2a(b)) which causes it to take a curving course or path when rolled; cf. biased adj. 2. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > bowls or bowling > [noun] > bowl bowlc1420 bias bowl1592 sand bowlsa1683 wood1884 yetling1895 1592 T. Nashe Strange Newes sig. M^v Gabriell..cannot make the bias bowle at Saffron Walden run downe the hill. 1751 C. Colden Princ. Action in Matter v. 148 The axis of a bias bowl, being inclined to the plane on which it rolls, is the cause why if deviates from the direction in which its motion was impress'd. 2000 J. Burnett Riot, Revelry & Rout iv. 40 Bowls developed a new level of sophistication with the introduction of bias bowls. bias bowler n. Cricket (now rare) a bowler who specializes in applying spin to the ball when bowling; a spin-bowler; cf. sense A. 2b. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > cricketer > [noun] > bowler > types of bowler slow bowler1823 fast bowler1828 bias bowler1854 round-arm1858 demon bowler1861 left-hander1864 chucker1882 lobster1889 slow1895 leg-breaker1904 speed merchant1913 leg-spinner1920 spin bowler1920 off-spinner1924 quickie1934 tweaker1935 swerve-bowler1944 pace bowler1947 seam bowler1948 spinner1951 seamer1952 wrist-spinner1957 outswinger1958 swing bowler1958 quick1960 stock bowler1968 paceman1972 leggy1979 1854 J. Pycroft Cricket Field (ed. 2) iv. 77 Sparkes was also a fair bias bowler, but of no great pace. 1944 Scotsman 29 Jan. 7/4 He was for years, in the zenith period of cricket, one of the most accurate of bias bowlers. bias bowling n. †(a) (Cricket) a bowling technique in which spin is applied to the ball on delivery; spin-bowling (Obsolete); (b) (Bowls) the game of bowls, played using bowls with a bias (sense A. 2a); cf. bias bowls n. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > bowls or bowling > [noun] > types of play Vincent's law1591 bias bowling1833 roll-off1886 guarding1897 takeout1958 society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > bowling > [noun] > manner of bowling > specific fast bowling1816 lobbing1824 bias bowling1833 windmill1867 fast-medium1890 flick1897 whip1903 swerve-bowling1930 body line1933 tweaking1949 swing bowling1953 spin-bowling1955 seam-bowling1956 pace bowling1958 nip1963 wrist-spinning1963 1833 J. Mitford in Gentleman's Mag. Sept. 238 The plan adopted by good batters against slow bias bowling was successful. 1875 J. G. Wood Mod. Playmate (rev. ed.) 144 Bias-bowling, if good, is not only hard to hit..it has in addition a great knack of flying off the bad in unexpected directions. 1944 Mt. Dora (Florida) Topic 14 Dec. Florida should be proud to offer an exclusive and superior type of bias bowling adapted to its excellent winter climate. 2012 Advocate (Burnie, Tasmania) (Nexis) 14 Mar. 23 Burnie Senior Citizens Club Inc., bowls training 11am; indoor bias bowling 12.30pm. bias bowls n. Bowls the game of bowls, played using bowls with a bias (sense A. 2a); cf. bias bowling n. (b), biased bowls n. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > bowls or bowling > [noun] > forms of long bowl1497 byles1530 trule1568 portbowls1585 long bullets1679 boccia1827 bocce1828 trailing1902 boule1924 bias bowls1939 pétanque1955 1939 Evening Tel. & Post (Dundee) 3 Apr. (Late Extra ed.) 10/2 The club..for the second year in succession carried off the Angus Federation Bias Bowls Cup. 2018 Courier (Ballarat, Austral.) (Nexis) 9 June Ballarat again hosting three-day indoor bias bowls championships. bias-cut adj. (of fabric) cut diagonally or at an angle to the warp or weft; (of an item) made with fabric cut or oriented in this way. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > [adjective] > bias cut bias1600 bias-cut1821 1821 La Belle Assemblée Mar. 136/1 The border consists of two rows of doubled bias-cut flock gauze. 1969 Guardian 30 July 7/4 Bias cut skirts flare out from the hips. 2015 D. Thomas Gods & Kings 181 The show-piece, an ivory satin-backed crepe bias-cut gown. † bias drawing n. Obsolete deviation from the truth, insincerity.Apparently an isolated use. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > dissimulation, pretence > insincerity > [noun] hollow-heartedness1549 bias drawinga1616 unsincerity1646 hollowness1648 unsincereness1683 insinceritya1699 phoniness1910 a1616 W. Shakespeare Troilus & Cressida (1623) iv. vii. 53 Faith and troth, Strain'd purely from all hollow bias drawing. bias-eyed adj. chiefly derogatory and offensive (now rare) (of a person) having eyes which slant upwards towards the outer corners, slant-eyed (often used as an insult towards people of East Asian or South-East Asian descent). ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > eye > [adjective] > by size, shape, etc. > having goggle-eyedc1384 well-eyed1483 pink-eyed1519 hollow-eyeda1529 small-eyed1555 great-eyed1558 bird-eyed1564 out-eyed1570 large-eyed1575 full-eyed1581 bright-eyed1590 wall-eyed1590 beetle-eyed1594 fire-eyed?1594 young-eyed1600 open-eyed1601 soft-eyed1606 narrow-eyed1607 broad-eyed?1611 saucer-eyed1612 ox-eyed1621 pig-eyed1655 glare-eyed1683 pit-eyed1696 dove-eyed1717 laughing-eyed1784 almond1786 wide-eyed1789 moon-eyed1790 big-eyed1792 gooseberry-eyed1796 red-eyed1800 unsealed1800 screw-eyed1810 starry-eyed1818 pinkie-eyed1824 pop-eyed1830 bead-eyed1835 fishy-eyed1836 almond-eyed1849 boopic1854 sharp-set1865 bug-eyed1872 beady-eyed1873 bias-eyed1877 blank-eyed1881 gape-eyed1889 glass-eyed1889 stone-eyed1890 pie-eyed1900 slitty-eyed1908 steely-eyed1964 megalopic1985 1877 Burlington (Iowa) Daily Hawk-eye 28 Dec. 2/5 A bias-eyed, saffron-skinned, pigeon-toed Chinee. 1969 Rockdale (Texas) Reporter 6 Nov. 6 a/6 Those bias-eyed rice chewers in China. bias-ply adj. and n. (a) adj. designating a tyre in which the layers of fabric are laid with the cords at an oblique angle to the circumference of the tyre; of or relating to such tyres (opposed to radial-ply adj. and n. (a) at radial adj. and n. Compounds); (b) n. a bias-ply tyre. ΘΚΠ society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > vehicles according to means of motion > vehicle moving on wheels > [adjective] > fitted with tyres > attributes of tyres steel-studdeda1400 white-walled1720 punctured1896 sidewall1901 beaded-edge1902 treaded1906 low-profile1922 whitewall1930 run-flat1941 whitewall1957 bald1958 bias-ply1964 cross-ply1965 studded1966 treadless1968 society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > vehicles according to means of motion > vehicle moving on wheels > [noun] > parts of vehicle moving on wheels > wheel > rubber or pneumatic tyre > types of sidewall1901 non-skid1905 retread1909 remould1928 recap1929 knobbly1938 knobby1943 whitewall1950 slick1959 bias-ply1964 radial1964 cross-ply1965 snow1968 Pennsylvania cap1971 wet1977 1964 Waxahachie (Texas) Daily Light 21 June ii. 2/1 Two types of fiberglas reinforced tires were tested by Owens-Corning. One was of the radical ply design... The other followed the conventional bias ply pattern in which multiple layers of equal and opposite bias plies run at an angle between beads. 1980 Truck & Bus Transportation Feb. 26/2 ‘Radial tyres have a lower vertical spring rate than bias-ply tyres and therefore allow the vehicle to roll more’, Dr Sweatman said... Radials respond faster at low slip angles, but the peak sideforce available is greater for the bias-ply. 2007 Calgary (Alberta) Herald (Nexis) 23 Dec. e5 Mercedes commissioned Dunlop to produce tires that look like bias-plies but are actually radials. bias tape n. originally U.S. a type of folded bias-cut ribbon or tape made for finishing raw edges, binding seams, etc.; cf. bias binding n. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > [noun] > piece of > other pieces piece?c1430 fasel1440 speckc1440 pane1459 rag?1536 remnant1571 fag end1607 swatch1647 cut1753 rigg1769 hag's teeth1777 bias1824 spetch1828 shredlet1840 bias tape1884 short end1960 the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric manufactured in specific way > [noun] > of specific size > narrow > tape > for binding lear1382 binding1598 stay-tape1699 bias binding1825 bias tape1884 1884 Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 12 Feb. 600/2 The improved process of making continuous bias tape, consisting of cutting the fabric at an angle of about forty-five degrees to its warp and filling, cementing together the selvages of the successive pieces to form a continuous band. 1920 Designer Feb. 71/3 The new trimming for middy blouses and sailor suits. Made of Wright's Bias Tape stitched in parallel rows on fast colored percale. 2011 Sydney Morning Herald (Nexis) 17 Nov. 15 Anderson's use of leather at the neck and hem in place of bias tape gave the sets an air of science fiction. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2021; most recently modified version published online June 2022). biasv. Brit. /ˈbʌɪəs/, U.S. /ˈbaɪəs/ Inflections: Present participle biasing, biassing; past tense and past participle biased, biassed; Forms: see bias n. Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: bias n. Etymology: < bias n. Compare biased adj., which is earlier in most senses. With sense 5 compare also earlier biasing n. 4 and biasing adj. 3.Compare Old French, Middle French, French biaiser to cause to slant (a1320), to slant (1402 in en byaisant slanting, oblique), (of a glance) to divert (a1590), to hedge (1655), Old Occitan biaissar to slant, to turn away (first half of the 12th cent.). 1. a. transitive. To exert an influence on (a person or thing), often unduly or unfairly; esp. to cause to become partial or biased; to prejudice. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > belief > expressed belief, opinion > bias, prejudice > judge with prejudice [verb (transitive)] > cause prejudice in prevent1551 forestall?1571 bias1581 preoccupate1582 prejudicate1602 prejudice1610 pre-engage1646 prepossess1647 preoccupya1658 tamper1687 1581 W. Allen Apol. Two Eng. Colleges f. 4^v The preiudice and partialitie of the present condition..doth byas and peruert the external actions of many worldings euen against their owne natural inclination, knowledge, and conscience. 1684 Bp. G. Burnet tr. T. More Utopia 151 Men whom no Advantages can biass. a1711 T. Ken Hymnarium 108 in Wks. (1721) II. By Grace our Wills may byass'd be. 1875 P. G. Hamerton Intellect. Life (ed. 2) ii. iii. 66 Artists are seldom good critics of art, because their own practice biasses them, and they are not disinterested. 1924 Fortnightly Rev. 1 Apr. 466 The thorough aversion which Lamb felt for Byron's character may have biased him against his poetry. 2006 Current Direct. Psychol. Sci. 15 30/2 One theory is that children approach the word-learning problem with a set of constraints or principles biasing them to entertain certain hypotheses about word reference over others. †b. transitive. To deflect or divert (the mind, attention, behaviour, etc.) to another focus or path; to cause (a person) to incline towards or away from a course of action, an opinion, etc. Also occasionally intransitive: to deviate from an established mode of behaviour, thought, etc. Obsolete except as merged in sense 1a. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > inaction > not doing > abstaining or refraining from action > abstain or refrain from (action) [verb (transitive)] > avoid or shun > turn aside from > cause to writhea1400 wrya1400 reflecta1500 reverta1500 withstand1508 reversec1540 declinea1555 evert1569 deflecta1575 divert1609 bias1628 blank1640 avert1697 shunt1858 sidetrack1887 ride1908 1628 W. Prynne Vnlouelinesse of Louelockes To Rdr. sig. a2 They finde..their affections and practise, biassed to these Effeminate guises, Lockes, and Cultures of the World. 1641 T. Goodwin Tryall Christians Growth ii. 120 We shall..not be biased aside. 1645 City Alarum 20 Many great Patriots in the beginning have since byased. 1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 491. ⁋2 Without any Vice that could biass him from the Execution of Justice. 1895 Esoteric Sept. 140 The soul, which is the conscious, thinking, intelligent man, rules the body with vigor, never bending to pain or biasing his course of life for the sake of pleasure. †c. transitive. To persuade or induce (a person) to do or agree to something. Also with over. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the mind > will > motivation > persuasion > persuade (a person) [verb (transitive)] > persuade or prevail upon > to do something procurea1325 draw1425 inducec1450 draw1531 obtain1558 reduce?a1560 weighc1571 charma1592 obtain1606 bias1660 gain1681 import1825 wangle1926 1660 J. Featley Succinct Hist. Life & Death D. Featley 3 in Featlæi Παλιγγενεσία Neither propinquity of blood, nor..any thing else shall byass me to write a voluntary untruth. 1722 D. Defoe Moll Flanders 289 She soon byass'd me to consent. 1813 R. Edington Treat. Coal Trade ix. 209 The coal-heavers, and hospital agent were all biassed over by the captain. 1851 Life & Advent. Theodore Smartville 14/1 Don't be biassed over to anything that won't suit us. Lawyers are such persuading people. 2. transitive. Bowls. To give (a bowl) a bias (bias n. 2), so that it takes a curving course or path when rolled. Later (more generally): to roll or play (a ball) in such a way that it takes a curving course or path. Cf. biased adj. 2. rare after 17th cent. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > bowls or bowling > play bowls [verb (transitive)] > types of play bias1641 draw1868 trail1908 1641 T. Warmstry Pax Vobis 4 As a Bowle that is well weighed, and biast, but is at home before its time, and so over-runnes the Mistris. 1657 J. Bramhall Castigations Mr. Hobbes 87 The bowle doth not bias it self. 1675 F. Fane Love in Dark Epil. Like Bowls ill byass'd, still the more they run, They're further off, then when they first begun. 1816 W. Lambert Instr. & Rules Cricket 19 Taking notice how the hand was held when the Ball was delivered, you will get master of it, so as to bias it with pleasure. 1868 ‘S. Daryl’ Routledge's Handbk. Quoits & Bowls 34 In the old days it was the habit to have the bowls loaded on the inside with lead so as to bias them, but this practice has completely died out. 1993 A. Humez et al. Zero to Lazy Eight (1994) 148 It is often necessary to ‘bias’ later bowls—i.e., bowl them on a curve so as to get around other players' bowls already in the way of the jack. 3. intransitive. To lean, turn, etc., physically in a particular direction or towards a particular place; to slant or tilt in a specified direction. In early use also figurative: †to have an inclination or tendency; to be inclined to a specified behaviour, opinion, etc. (obsolete). Also transitive: to cause (something) to lean, turn, etc., in a particular direction. ΘΚΠ the mind > will > wish or inclination > be inclined [verb (intransitive)] inclinea1413 willc1443 please?1467 regard?1542 fantasy1548 depend1586 to be bent1626 point1638 bias1656 to be on1886 the world > existence and causation > existence > state or condition > tendency > tend or incline [verb (intransitive)] > go in a certain direction incline?a1475 alien?1541 propend1545 sway1556 wing1617 lie1633 look1647 vergea1661 bias1683 preponderate1693 give1840 canalize1927 1656 R. Sanderson 20 Serm. 222 The hearts of such as byasse too much that way. 1683 J. Phillips tr. G.-J. Grelot Late Voy. Constantinople 120 The Stairs which now ascend byassing, which formerly ascended streight upright from one of the large oriental Pillars to the other. 1780 H. Croft Love & Madness xliv. 106 You have seen people wreathing and twisting and biassing themselves, after a bowl which they have just delivered. 1841 McDouall's Chartist Jrnl. & Trade's Advocate 2 Oct. 211/2 They will not bias the wheel of the barrow in any particular direction. 1905 Daily Chron. 2 Sept. 5/3 The carriages in the middle of the train seemed all at once to bias over on to the down platform. 2009 J. E. Seiffert Fearless Knitting: Workbk 125 As you knit, the upper and lower patterns will produce a biased fabric—one that slants. In the lower pattern, which slants to the left, the fabric will bias to the right. 4. transitive. In dressmaking, needlework, etc. †(a) To use biasing (biasing n. 3) to strengthen or secure (gathers, pleats, etc.) (obsolete). (b) To position (fabric, or a cut, seam, etc.) on the bias (see on the bias) (now rare). ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > treating or processing textile fabric > treat or process textile fabric [verb (transitive)] > other processes starch1390 scour1467 burl1483 waterc1500 calender1513 shoot1532 press1555 gum1612 reimbale1623 strike1701 bias1838 pad1839 spirit1854 bray1879 stream1883 crisp1892 block1905 Schreiner1905 mercerize1911 1838 Workwoman's Guide: Instr. Apparel vi. 134 Bias the front and back in four rows below the collar. 1883 Monthly Rec. Fashion June 103/2 It is..wrong in principle to bias the back-seam at half the waist up on the front line. 1934 J. W. Stephenson Drapery Cutting & Making (ed. 4) 41/2 By biasing the lining as indicated the form can be shaped into a cone without the lining developing wrinkles. 5. transitive. Mechanics and Electronics. To give a bias (bias n. 5b, 7a) to or set the bias of (a component or device). ΘΚΠ the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electronics > electronic phenomena > processes > [verb (transitive)] > apply bias to bias1875 1875 E. W. Siemens & C. W. Frischen U.S. Patent 161,561 2/2 The operator, by depressing the right-hand knob T², brings the weight t² to bear, so as to bias the segment R² upward. 1909 Proc. Amer. Inst. Electr. Engineers 28 967 Roughly, the value of this exciting current, when transformers are magnetically biased, is the value of the normal exciting current added to the direct current. 1944 Electronic Engin. 16 336 Bias the valve so that the anode current is normally zero or small. 2009 C. Shamieh & G. McComb Electronics for Dummies (ed. 2) vi. 131 Biasing the transistor is like opening a valve that controls the flow of current through the transistor. 6. transitive. Statistics. Of a method of sampling, measurement, analysis, etc.: to distort (a statistical result); to introduce bias (bias n. 6) into (a method of sampling, measurement, analysis, etc.). ΚΠ 1922 Jrnl. Royal Statist. Soc. 85 415 Either process appears to bias the resulting figures in favour of the production of an eight-year cycle. 1956 Biometrika 43 418 The application of this rule controls the probability of biasing a result by failing to reject an outlier. 1975 Jrnl. Law & Econ. 18 496 Measurement error in C biases the estimator towards zero. 2019 Times (Nexis) 13 Sept. (News section) 15 By not controlling for which testicle they are measuring they could be inadvertently biasing their results. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2021; most recently modified version published online June 2022). < n.adj.adv.1530v.1581
随便看	field boundary field briar field bromegrass field bug field camera field camp field cannon field cap field capacity field carriage field character field chickweed field church field club field coil field colours field commander field conventicle field conventicler field corn field course field cricket field crop field culverin field curvature