formation
/fɔɹˈmeɪʃ(ə)n/ noun B2- The act of assembling a group or structure.
- Something possessing structure or form.
- The process during which something comes into being and gains its characteristics.
- A grouping of military units or smaller formations under a command, such as a brigade, division, wing, etc.
- A layer of rock of common origin.
- An arrangement of moving troops, ships, or aircraft, such as a wedge, line abreast, or echelon. Often "in formation".
- An arrangement of players designed to facilitate certain plays.
- The process of influencing or guiding a person to a deeper understanding of a particular vocation.
Plural formations
From the library
The tiger, whose nature teaches him to delight in shedding blood, needs but the sense of smell to show him when his prey is within his reach, and by following this instinct he is enabled to measure the leap necessary to permit him to spring on his victim; but man, on the contrary, loathes the idea of blood—it is not alone that the laws of social life inspire him with a shrinking dread of taking life; his natural construction and physiological formation——”
I write without any intention of paining you, or humbling myself, by dwelling on wishes, which, for the happiness of both, cannot be too soon forgotten; and the effort which the formation and the perusal of this letter must occasion, should have been spared, had not my character required it to be written and read.
The room had been fashioned into a small museum, and the walls were lined by a number of glass-topped cases full of that collection of butterflies and moths the formation of which had been the relaxation of this complex and dangerous man.
These regions are the amygdala, which regulates emotional responses, and the hippocampus, which is responsible for the formation of associative memories.
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