critical - Dictionary definition and pronunciation - Yahoo! Education

Definition of critical

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crit·i·cal  audio  (krt-kl) KEY 

ADJECTIVE:
  1. Inclined to judge severely and find fault.
  2. Characterized by careful, exact evaluation and judgment: a critical reading.
  3. Of, relating to, or characteristic of critics or criticism: critical acclaim; a critical analysis of Melville's writings.
  4. Forming or having the nature of a turning point; crucial or decisive: a critical point in the campaign.
    1. Of or relating to a medical crisis: an illness at the critical stage.
    2. Being or relating to a grave physical condition especially of a patient.
  6. Indispensable; essential: a critical element of the plan; a second income that is critical to the family's well-being.
  7. Being in or verging on a state of crisis or emergency: a critical shortage of food.
  8. Fraught with danger or risk; perilous.
  9. Mathematics Of or relating to a point at which a curve has a horizontal tangent line, as at a maximum or minimum.
  10. Chemistry & Physics Of or relating to the value of a measurement, such as temperature, at which an abrupt change in a quality, property, or state occurs: A critical temperature of water is 100°C, its boiling point at standard atmospheric pressure.
  11. Physics Capable of sustaining a nuclear chain reaction.


OTHER FORMS:
criti·cal·ly(Adverb), criti·cal·ness(Noun)


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