specific
/spɪˈsɪf.ɪk/ adjective A2- Explicit or definite.
- Pertaining to a species, as a taxon or taxa at the rank of species. · Holonyms: generic, familial· Meronyms: infrasubspecific, infraspecific, subspecific
- Special, distinctive or unique.
- intended for, or applying to, a particular thing.
- Serving to identify a particular thing (often a disease or condition), with little risk of mistaking something else for it. · a highly specific test· specific and nonspecific symptoms
- Being a remedy for a particular disease on a deeper level, rather than just masking the symptoms. · Quinine is a specific medicine in cases of malaria.
- Limited to a particular antibody or antigen.
- Of a value divided by mass (e.g. specific orbital energy).
From the library
Amongst us a simpleton, possessed by the demon of hate or cupidity, who has an enemy to destroy, or some near relation to dispose of, goes straight to the grocer’s or druggist’s, gives a false name, which leads more easily to his detection than his real one, and under the pretext that the rats prevent him from sleeping, purchases five or six grammes of arsenic—if he is really a cunning fellow, he goes to five or six different druggists or grocers, and thereby becomes only five or six times more easily traced;—then, when he has acquired his specific, he administers duly to his enemy, or near kinsman, a dose of arsenic which would make a mammoth or mastodon burst, and which, without rhyme or reason, makes his victim utter groans which alarm the entire neighborhood.
“They are indeed exquisite,” he said; “but as they are necessarily submitted to the process of deglutition—a function which it is frequently impossible for a fainting person to accomplish—I prefer my own specific.”
The staff had not opened that specific locker for twenty years.
First, pay close attention to the specific vocabulary and tone that the reviewer uses.
Other matches
Learn specific in real texts
With a free account, hover any word in the library for its meaning, hear it read aloud, save words for review timed to your memory, and see how much of each book you already know.