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patent - Meaning and Examples

Meaning of 'patent' (Webster Dictionary)

1 . Patent [ a.]
- Open; expanded; evident; apparent; unconcealed; manifest; public; conspicuous.
- Open to public perusal; -- said of a document conferring some right or privilege; as, letters patent. See Letters patent, under 3d Letter.
- Appropriated or protected by letters patent; secured by official authority to the exclusive possession, control, and disposal of some person or party; patented; as, a patent right; patent medicines.
- Spreading; forming a nearly right angle with the steam or branch; as, a patent leaf.
- A letter patent, or letters patent; an official document, issued by a sovereign power, conferring a right or privilege on some person or party.
- A writing securing to an invention.
- A document making a grant and conveyance of public lands.
- The right or privilege conferred by such a document; hence, figuratively, a right, privilege, or license of the nature of a patent.
2 . Patent [ v. t.]
- To grant by patent; to make the subject of a patent; to secure or protect by patent; as, to patent an invention; to patent public lands.

Meaning of 'patent' (Princeton's WordNet)

1 . patent [ v]
Meaning (1):
- make open to sight or notice
Example in sentence:
  • His behavior has patented an embarrassing fact about him
Meaning (2):
- obtain a patent for
Example in sentence:
  • Should I patent this invention?
3 . patent [ s]
Meaning (3):
- clearly revealed to the mind or the senses or judgment
Example in sentence:
  • a palpable lie;
  • evident hostility;
  • in plain view;
  • it is plain that he is no reactionary;
  • made his meaning plain;
  • manifest disapproval;
  • patent advantages;
  • the effects of the drought are apparent to anyone who sees the parched fields
Meaning (4):
- (of a bodily tube or passageway) open; affording free passage
Example in sentence:
  • patent ductus arteriosus

Nearby Words:

pat pataca patache patacoon patagia patagium patagonian patamar patas patavinity

See 'patent' also in:

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