Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - term

~1 n ONE WAY OF REGARDING SOMETHING« 1 in financial/artistic/psychological etc terms if you describe or consider something in financial etc terms, you are mainly interested in the financial etc side of it  (In artistic terms, the film was revolutionary. | the enormous cost of war, in human terms) 2 in terms of if you explain or judge something in terms of a particular fact or event, you are only interested in its connection with that fact or event  (US foreign policy tended to see everything in terms of the Vietnam war. | In terms of customer satisfaction, the policy cannot be criticized.) 3 in sb's terms according to one person's set of opinions  (In their terms, cutting government spending is the most important thing.) 4 in real terms a change of a price or cost in real terms has been calculated to include the effects of other changes such as price rises  (Our wages have gone down in real terms over the past year.) »WORDS/LANGUAGE« 5 »WORD/EXPRESSION« a word or expression that has a particular meaning, especially in a technical or scientific subject  (medical/legal/scientific term)  (Contusion is the medical term for a bruise.) 6 a term of abuse/endearment etc a word or expression used to insult someone, say you love them etc  (To an islander, tourist was just about the worst term of abuse.) 7 in glowing terms/in strong terms if you describe something in glowing terms or say something in strong terms, you show that you admire something very much or that you are very angry  (I complained to the manager in the strongest possible terms.) 8 in no uncertain terms in a clear and usually angry way  (He told me in no uncertain terms not to park near his house.)  (- see also a contradiction in terms contradiction (3)) »PERIOD OF TIME« 9 »SCHOOL/UNIVERSITY« BrE one of the three periods that the school or university year is divided into  (summer/autumn/spring term)  (The main exams are at the end of the summer term | term time (=during the term))  (Teachers often feel overworked in term time.)  (- see also half­term, -compare semester) 10 in the long/short/medium term considered over a period from now until a long etc time in the future  (The company's prospects look good in the long term.) 11 »TIME IN A JOB« a period of time for which someone is elected to an important government job, or that a government has power  (term of office/term in office)  (The president hopes to be elected to a second term of office.) 12 prison/jail term etc a period of time that someone must spend in prison  (The terrorists each received a 30 year prison term.) 13 »BUSINESS« the period of time that a contract, loan1 (1) etc continues for  (We're trying to extend the term on our mortgage.) 14 »END OF BUSINESS AGREEMENT« technical the end of the period of a business agreement  (The policy reaches its term next year..) 15 »HAVING A BABY« technical the end of the period of time when a woman is pregnant  (- see also long­term, short­term) »CONDITIONS/AGREEMENT« 16 »CONDITIONS« terms plural a) the conditions of an agreement, contract, or legal document  (Under the terms of the agreement, Hong Kong goes back to China in 1997.) b) the conditions under which you agree to buy or sell something  (I bought this car on very reasonable terms. | on easy terms (=a way of paying for something gradually in small amounts)) 17 on your (own) terms according to the conditions that you ask for  (If I agree to do this it will be on my own terms.) 18 terms of reference the agreed limits of what an official committee or report has been asked to study RELATIONSHIP 19 be on good/bad terms to have a friendly relationship or bad relationship with someone  (We're on good terms with all our neighbours. | He had been on bad terms with his father for years.) 20 be on speaking terms to be able to talk to someone and have a friendly relationship with them, especially after a quarrel  (They were barely on speaking terms.) OTHER SENSES 21 come to terms with sth to accept an unpleasant situation or event and no longer feel upset or angry about it  (It's hard to come to terms with being unemployed.) 22 on equal terms/on the same terms having the same advantages, rights, or abilities as anyone else  (US companies want to be able to compete on equal terms with their overseas rivals.) 23 be thinking/talking in terms of to be considering doing something, buying something, arranging something etc  (She's talking in terms of resigning. | I was just thinking in terms of a small party.) 24 »NUMBER/SIGN« technical one of the numbers or signs used in a mathematical calculation ~2 v T usually passive to use a particular word or expression to name or describe something  (be termed sth)  (This condition is sometimes termed RSI, or repetitive strain injury. | The meeting could hardly be termed a success.)