anomaly
/əˈnɑ.mə.li/ noun C1- A deviation from a rule or from what is regarded as normal; an outlier.
- Something or someone that is strange or unusual. · He is an anomaly among his friends in that he's the only one who's unmarried.
- Any event or measurement that is out of the ordinary regardless of whether it is exceptional or not. · She disregarded some of the anomalies in the experiment, putting them down to miscalculation.
- Any of various angular distances.
- A defect or malformation.
- A failure of a classical symmetry due to quantum corrections.
- An irregularity or disproportion.
Plural anomalies
From the library
An anomaly which often struck me in the character of my friend Sherlock Holmes was that, although in his methods of thought he was the neatest and most methodical of mankind, and although also he affected a certain quiet primness of dress, he was none the less in his personal habits one of the most untidy men that ever drove a fellow-lodger to distraction.
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