delta

Pluraldeltas

Formsdeltas, deltaing, deltaed

1. 1
   nouncountable

   The land at the end of a river, where the river flows into a sea, a lake, or other water.

   Many birds live in the delta where the river meets the sea.

   Farmers grow rice on the rich land of the delta.

2. 2
   nouncountable

   The fourth letter of the Greek alphabet, written Δ or δ.

   In Greek class, we learned to write alpha, beta, gamma, and delta.

   The capital delta looks like a small triangle.

   Note
3. 3
   nouncountable

   The math sign Δ, or how much an amount has changed.

   On the board, the teacher wrote a delta in front of the T to show the change in temperature.

   We worked out the delta between last year's sales and this year's.

   Similardifference, differential

   Note
4. 4
   nounabbreviationellipsis

   Short for delta variant. It is a form of the virus that causes COVID-19.

   Many people in our town got sick when delta arrived.

   The doctor said the test showed she had delta.

   Note
5. 5
   noun

   Alternative letter-case form of Delta from the NATO/ICAO Phonetic Alphabet. It is the code word for the letter D.

   To spell Dan over the radio, say delta, alpha, november.

   The pilot was told to turn left onto taxiway delta.

   Note
6. 6
   nouncountable

   A list of all the changes between an old and a new copy of a file.

   The app only downloads the delta, so updates are small and fast.

   She checked the delta to see what her teammate had changed.

   Similardiff

   Note
7. 7
   nouncountable

   How much an option's value moves when the price of the asset it is based on moves.

   The trader looked at the option's delta before buying it.

   A higher delta means the option's price follows the stock price more closely.

   Note
8. 8
   nouncolloquialuncountable

   A small effect that you can still notice.

   Switching the font makes the page load slower by delta, not enough to worry about.

   The extra icons make the app bigger to download, but only by delta.

   Note
9. 9
   verbtransitive

   To compare an old and a new copy of a file to find what someone changed.

   Before saving, the tool will delta the two files and show you the changes.

   He deltaed his copy against the original to find his mistake.

   Similardiff, compare

   Note
10. 10
    nouncountable or uncountablebefore a noun

    A closed shape made by joining three electric coils or circuits, one after another, end to end.

    The electrician checked the delta connection on the big motor.

    The three coils inside the machine are joined in a delta.

    Note

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