science

noun

1. (countable)A particular discipline or branch of knowledge that is natural, measurable or consisting of systematic principles rather than intuition or technical skill.

   “Economics is a messy discipline: too fluid to be a science, too rigorous to be an art. Perhaps it is fitting that economists’ most-used metric, gross domestic product (GDP), is a tangle too. GDP measures the total value of output in an economic territory. Its apparent simplicity explains why it is scrutinised down to tenths of a percentage point every month.”

   “Of course in my opinion Social Studies is more of a science than an art.”

2. (countable, uncountable)Specifically the natural sciences.

   “My favorite subjects at school are science, mathematics, and history.”

3. (archaic, uncountable)Knowledge gained through study or practice; mastery of a particular discipline or area.

   “For by his mightie Science he had seene / The secret vertue of that weapon keene […]”

   “If we conceive God's sight or science, before the creation, to be extended to all and every part of the world, seeing everything as it is, […] his science or sight from all eternity lays no necessity on anything to come to pass.”

   “Shakespeare's deep and accurate science in mental philosophy”

4. (countable, uncountable)The fact of knowing something; knowledge or understanding of a truth.

   “O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding vain and profane babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: Which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee. Amen.”

5. (uncountable)The collective discipline of study or learning acquired through the scientific method; the sum of knowledge gained from such methods and discipline.

   “Meronyms: physical science, life science, natural science, social science”

   “‘I always ask leave, in the interests of science, to measure the crania of those going out there,’ he said.”

   “"That this use should be destructive is no doubt very deplorable, but Science knows no distinctions of the sort, but follows knowledge wherever it may lead."”

   “What is it that has produced this new prodigious speed of man? Science is the cause. Her feeble groping fingers lifted here and there, often trampled underfoot, often frozen in isolation, have now become a vast organized, united, class-conscious army marching forward upon all the fronts toward objectives none may measure or define.”

   “I have found no better expression than "religious" for confidence in the rational nature of reality […] Whenever this feeling is absent, science degenerates into uninspired empiricism.”

6. (uncountable)Knowledge derived from scientific disciplines, scientific method, or any systematic effort.

   “While much good science has come from the Hubble telescope (including the most reliable measure to date for the expansion rate of the universe), you would never know from media accounts that the foundation of our cosmic knowledge continues to flow primarily from the analysis of spectra and not from looking at pretty pictures.”

7. (collective, uncountable)The scientific community.

   “Science knows it doesn't know everything; otherwise, it'd stop.”

   “With wildfires raging across the West, climate change took center stage in the race for the White House on Monday as former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. called President Trump a “climate arsonist” while the president said that “I don’t think science knows” what is actually happening.”

   “There are plenty of earnestly respectful vaccine selfies, where the inoculated person bares a shoulder and thanks science for their shot.”

   ““I expected it from politicians. I didn’t expect it from science.””

8. (countable, euphemistic, uncountable, with-definite-article)Synonym of sweet science (“the sport of boxing”).

   “From a conviction, that the science is universally understood, the strong are taught humility, and the weak confidence. Many have laughed at the idea, that Boxing is of national service, but they have laughed at the expence^([sic]) of truth.”

   “[…] for not a blow or guard in boxing will repay you more than the cross-counter, which may well be called the sheet-anchor of the science.”

9. (alt-of, obsolete)Obsolete spelling of scion.

verb

1. (dated, transitive)To cause to become versed in science; to make skilled; to instruct.

   “I mock'd at all religious Fear, Deep-scienced in the mazy Lore Of mad Philosophy”

2. (colloquial, humorous, transitive)To use science to solve a problem.