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acuity
aculeate
acumen
acuminate
acupoint
acupressure
acupuncture
acupuncture point
acute
acute arch
acute brain syndrome
acute dose
acute lymphocytic leukaemia
acute mountain sickness
acute nonlymphocytic leukaemia
acute phase protein
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acute

acute [ ə kyt ]


adjective 
Definition:
 
1. very great or bad: extremely serious, severe, or painful
an acute financial crisis

2. perceptive: keenly perceptive and intelligent
an acute grasp of foreign affairs

3. sensitive: very powerful and sensitive to detail
acute eyesight

4. mathematics less than 90º: describes an angle that is less than 90º

5. mathematics with angles less than 90º: describes a triangle that has three internal angles each of less than 90º

6. medicine severe and of short duration: describes a disease that is brief, severe, and quickly comes to a crisis

7. botany pointed: describes leaves that end in a short narrow point



noun  (plural acutes)
Definition:
 
language accent over letter: in some languages, a mark placed above a letter to show that it is sounded in a specific way, as in é, ó. In Spanish, the acute indicates a stressed syllable, as in cupón; in French, a specific pronunciation of e, as in blé; and in classical Greek, a vowel sounded at a higher pitch.

[14th century. < Latin acutus, past participle of acuere 'sharpen' < acus 'needle']

acutely adverb
acuteness noun

Word Usage

See chronic.

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