peripheral
adjective
pe·riph·er·al
| \ pə-ˈri-f(ə-)rəl
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Definition of peripheral
(Entry 1 of 2)
1
: of, relating to, involving, or forming a periphery or surface part
2a
: of, relating to, affecting, or being part of the peripheral nervous system
peripheral nerves peripheral neuritis
b
: of, relating to, or being blood in the systemic circulation
peripheral lymphocytes
3
: of, relating to, or being the outer part of the field of vision
good peripheral vision
4
: auxiliary, supplementary
peripheral equipment
also
: of or relating to computer peripherals
peripheral
nounDefinition of peripheral (Entry 2 of 2)
: a device connected to a computer to provide communication (such as input and output) or auxiliary functions (such as additional storage)
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Synonyms & Antonyms for peripheral
Synonyms: Adjective
accessorial, accessory, appurtenant, auxiliary, supplemental, supplementary
Antonyms: Adjective
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Examples of peripheral in a Sentence
Adjective
If we focus too much on peripheral issues, we will lose sight of the goal. peripheral devices such as modems and scanners He saw in his peripheral vision that a car was trying to pass him.
Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective
Other peripheral investments by Airbnb signal other means of attracting business travelers. — Patrick Sisson, Curbed, "Airbnb bets big on business travelers," 13 Aug. 2019 Girls and women were often outnumbered and peripheral, siloed as the love interest. — Aisha Harris, New York Times, "‘Superbad’ & Me," 6 Aug. 2019 The prosthesis returns function and feeling to its users by signaling the nervous system via peripheral nerve stimulation, a process that utilizes an aspirin-sized implant to deliver sensory information and feedback to LUKE. — Daisy Hernandez, Popular Mechanics, "The Star Wars-Inspired Robotic Arm That Gives Amputees a Sense of Touch," 26 July 2019 What this means in practice is that what would be peripheral elsewhere is central here. — Los Angeles Times, "Review: A Quentin Tarantino skeptic takes great pleasure in ‘Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood’," 24 July 2019 The second premise is that climate science is peripheral, not central, to climate politics. — David Roberts, Vox, "We might get a climate debate after all. Here are 10 questions to ask candidates.," 3 July 2019 Yet that incident drew limited public support, in large part because the rights of hawkers seemed peripheral to citizens, Sing explained. — Mary Hui, Quartz, "How to understand the symbolic occupation—and destruction—of Hong Kong’s legislature," 2 July 2019 Even businesses that are more peripheral to tourism have seen sales to Chinese visitors dwindle. — New York Times, "As Trade War With U.S. Grinds On, Chinese Tourists Stay Away," 12 June 2019 In other words, peripheral neighbourhoods had fewer Poké stops. — Larissa Hjorth, Quartz, "Social workers in Spain are prescribing Pokémon Go to fight loneliness," 8 July 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
Browsing through the catalog is a fascinating glimpse into NeXT’s software, user interface, peripherals, and more. — Andrew Liptak, The Verge, "Page through computer history with this complete scan of NeXT’s Fall 1989 catalog," 14 July 2019 But in 2016, when agents seized the iPhone Esformes used to text Singer and obtained their messages, Singer was a peripheral, if curious, player in an enormous healthcare fraud investigation. — Matthew Ormseth, Los Angeles Times, "FBI found clues to college admissions scandal years earlier in massive Medicare fraud case," 26 July 2019 The underlying peripherals are also plenty comforting. — Jon Tayler, SI.com, "Pitching Career on Hold, Shohei Ohtani the Hitter Is as Good as Ever," 13 June 2019 There are also 40 Alienware gaming desktops equipped with Raynor gaming chairs and SteelSeries peripherals, plus a super fast internet connection. — Joey Morona, cleveland.com, "Cavaliers unveil plans for 'first-of-its kind’ esports center in Cleveland’s Battery Park," 18 July 2019 The peripherals on his breaking pitch have also improved, including its spin rate — which adds greater deception to pitches — and horizontal break. — Wells Dusenbury, sun-sentinel.com, "Whether in the rotation or bullpen, Elieser Hernandez providing Marlins with a valuable asset," 14 July 2019 Logitech is discounting a bunch of PC peripherals for Amazon’s deal of the day. — Cameron Faulkner, The Verge, "Xbox One controllers, natively supported in iOS 13, are much cheaper today," 20 June 2019 These two deities of American song are currently scheduled to live forever, but in the 21st century their new music feels culty and peripheral. — Chris Richards, Washington Post, "Bruce Springsteen and Madonna are subcultures now," 17 June 2019 Issues that are actually important, such as the monopoly market and speech-squelching power of big-tech firms such as Facebook and Twitter, are treated as peripheral. — Jeremy Carl, National Review, "Debating Net Neutrality: Big-Tech Monopolies Are the Real Problem," 11 June 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'peripheral.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for peripheral
peripheral
adjective
English Language Learners Definition of peripheral
(Entry 1 of 2)
formal
: not relating to the main or most important part
computers
: connected to a computer but not an essential part of it
: of or relating to the area that is to the side of the area you are looking at
peripheral
nounEnglish Language Learners Definition of peripheral (Entry 2 of 2)
computers
: a piece of equipment (such as a printer, speaker, etc.) that is connected to a computer but is not an essential part of it
See the full definition for peripheral in the English Language Learners Dictionary
peripheral
adjective
pe·riph·er·al
| \ pə-ˈrif-(ə-)rəl
\
\