framework
/ˈfɹeɪm.wɝk/ noun C1- A support structure comprising joined parts or conglomerated particles and intervening open spaces of similar or larger size.
- The arrangement of support beams that represent a building's general shape and size.
- The larger branches of a tree that determine its shape.
- A basic conceptual structure. · These ‘three principles of connexion’ compose the framework of principles in Hume's account of the association of ideas.
- A reusable piece of code (and, sometimes, other utilities) providing a standard environment within which an application can be implemented.
- An established and structured system of rules and principles used for analyzing and describing the structure of a language.
Plural frameworks
From the library
The songs of the birds were heard in an aviary hard by, and the branches of laburnums and rose acacias formed an exquisite framework to the blue velvet curtains.
Thus the house had become unrecognizable, and Bertuccio himself declared that he scarcely knew it, encircled as it was by a framework of trees.
One arm was hanging out of the bed; from shoulder to elbow it was moulded after the arms of Germain Pillon’s “Graces,” but the fore-arm seemed to be slightly distorted by convulsion, and the hand, so delicately formed, was resting with stiff outstretched fingers on the framework of the bed.
The publication of Samuel Johnson’s dictionary decades earlier had firmly entrenched the classic spellings within the British educational framework.
Learn framework 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.