\ ˈspās
\
\
Definition of space
(Entry 1 of 2)
1
: a period of time
also
: its duration
b
: an extent set apart or available
parking space floor space
c
: the distance from other people or things that a person needs in order to remain comfortable
invading my personal space
3
: one of the degrees between or above or below the lines of a musical staff — compare line
4a
: a boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events occur and have relative position and direction
infinite space and time
b
: physical space independent of what occupies it
— called also absolute space
5
: the region beyond the earth's atmosphere or beyond the solar system
6a
: a blank area separating words or lines
b
: material used to produce such blank area
especially
: a piece of type less than one en in width
7
: a set of mathematical elements and especially of abstractions of all the points on a line, in a plane, or in physical space
especially
: a set of mathematical entities with a set of axioms of geometric character — compare metric space, topological space, vector space
8a
: linage
b
: broadcast time available especially to advertisers
9
: accommodations on a public vehicle
10a
: the opportunity to assert or experience one's identity or needs freely
b
: an opportunity for privacy or time to oneself
space
verb
spaced;
spacing
Definition of space (Entry 2 of 2)
: to place at intervals or arrange with space between
Evenly space 16 tablespoons of shredded cheese on the baking sheet… — The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
—often used with out Space out the work you plan to do… Don't try to crowd too much into each day.— Darlene Polachic
1
: to leave one or more blank spaces (as in a line of typing)
2
informal
: to fail to remember something : forget
… I totally forgot to write last week. I had planned to do it, I had it all figured out, and I spaced.— Steve "Nookie" Postal
—often used with on
If your mom doesn't live close by, or if you totally spaced on getting her a Mother's Day gift this year, then flowers or chocolates are a great, last-minute gift idea that are sure to brighten her day.— Leah Stodart
— see also space out
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Examples of space in a Sentence
Noun
There's still some space for a bookshelf. the space behind the couch Is there space in the cabinet for these dishes? There's not much empty space. He moved the books to create more space on his desk. Those old boxes take up a lot of space. The magazine devotes a lot of space to advertising. She has a space between her front teeth. There isn't much space between our houses. the wide open spaces of the western U.S.Verb
Space the seedlings about six inches apart. He spaces his albums so that he puts one out every two to three years. They spaced the births of their three children two years apart.
Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
Help to build a community meeting space or health clinic. — National Geographic, "Fiji Community Service: Community Restoration," 10 Sep. 2019 However, with Jalen Nailor out for an indefinite stretch with an ankle injury, Heyward did make a catch on a slant pattern after lining up wide and has shown early ability to make plays in the pass game and in open space. — Chris Solari, Detroit Free Press, "Michigan State football stock watch: Elijah Collins on rise behind feisty offensive line," 9 Sep. 2019 India’s achievements in space have been hailed by Modi as a symbol of the country’s rising ambition as a global power. — Washington Post, "India loses touch with lander on its final approach to moon," 9 Sep. 2019 Residential streets with plenty of green space, with road access limited to the occasional delivery driver. — Wired, "Cities Are Trying—Again—to Plan for Autonomous Vehicles," 9 Sep. 2019 We’ve actually seen on some recent experiments that blood vessel walls — the walls of our arteries — actually get thicker and thicker in space. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "Fulfilling a dream, UCSD graduate prepares to study earth from space," 8 Sep. 2019 Griffin emphasized however that the Pentagon was still forging ahead with research into lasers and microwave weapons, for use by ground forces, air forces, and in space. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "The Pentagon Is Giving Up on Particle Beam Weapons," 8 Sep. 2019 The Kelvin scale is useful for temperature measurements in space. — Anchorage Daily News, "Thermometers are at work everywhere in cold-conscious Alaska," 7 Sep. 2019 Those countries are no strangers to setbacks in space. — Jonathan O'callaghan, Scientific American, "India Loses Contact with Lunar Lander," 6 Sep. 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
They will be required to provide notice to anyone within a 750-foot radius and meet the city’s safe parking requirements, including some basic health and safety regulations, spacing restrictions and a prohibition on vehicles that leak sewage. — Maggie Angst, The Mercury News, "Mountain View to private landowners: Welcome RV dwellers in your lots," 6 Sep. 2019 The lease for The Mercantile, a large club-sized music venue planned for the former UG White and Crossroads space downtown, has been terminated. — Matt Wake, al, "Lease for new downtown Huntsville music venue cancelled," 30 Aug. 2019 The newest proposal involves a longer, straight ramp from the Metra parking lot with two stairwells spaced along the ramp. — Rick Kambic, chicagotribune.com, "Mundelein moving forward with new Metra bridge design after previous plan exceeded budget," 2 Aug. 2019 Those fluent in internet-speak can also play with punctuation, capitalization, even spacing to convey emotional nuance and tone of voice. — Megan Mcdonough, Vox, "Is the internet killing language? LOL, no.," 29 July 2019 The model is incredibly simple; the only measurement used is the length the lattice spacing represents. — Leila Sloman, Scientific American, "Magnet and Neuron Model Also Predicts Arctic Sea Ice Melt," 24 July 2019 England also was a mission scientist again for Apollo 16 and went to space himself in the STS-51-F mission in 1985. — Micah Walker, Detroit Free Press, "Space race: Michigan's ties to NASA, Apollo program," 18 July 2019 Steph Curry and D’Angelo Russell are good at spacing the floor and finding good looks down low which could pay dividends for Cauley-Stein. — Dominique Yates, The Courier-Journal, "Is Louisville football's projected win total fair heading into the 2019 season?," 12 July 2019 That’s five starters, all in double figures a year ago, all capable of spacing the floor. — Gregg Doyel, Indianapolis Star, "Doyel: Malcolm Brogdon and Jeremy Lamb? Kevin Pritchard just made the Pacers a lot better," 30 June 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'space.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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