mode
Pluralmodes
- 1A setting that makes a machine, computer program, or game work in a certain way.
Like a setting on a washing machine for different kinds of clothes.
I put my phone in airplane mode before takeoff.
Switch the camera to night mode for darker scenes.
UsageSay in airplane mode or switch to night mode, usually with no "the."
Note
- 2A way of doing something or getting something done.
Like choosing whether to walk, bike, or drive to get somewhere.
We switched to a faster mode of travel for the second half of the trip.
Walking is her preferred mode of getting to work.
UsageUsually mode of something: a mode of transport.
Similarmethod, means, manner, way, form
Note
- 3
- 4One of several kinds of musical scale, used in Western music and in the music of ancient Greece.
Like a recipe that decides which notes go together to make a tune.
The song switches to a brighter mode in the chorus.
She showed us how each mode sounds different on the piano.
Note
- 5A popular style or fashion that many people follow.
Like everyone suddenly wearing the same kind of shoes.
Short hair became the mode among students that year.
Long coats are very much the mode this winter.
UsageUsually the mode. Most people say in fashion or in style instead.
Similarfashion, vogue, trend, rage, style
Note
Less common meanings
- 6The value or category that occurs most often in a set of data.
Like the most common color of car in a parking lot.
In the list 2, 3, 3, and 5, the mode is 3.
To find the mode, look for the value that shows up the most.
Note
- 7A verb form that shows whether something is a fact, a wish, or a command.
Like a label on a sentence that tells you if it's real, wished for, or an order.
Some languages have a special verb mode for giving orders.
Our old grammar book says "if I were you" uses the subjunctive mode.
UsageMany grammar books call this mood: the subjunctive mood.
Similarmood
Note
- 8In math and physics, a state of a system that matches one special solution of the system's equations.
The math showed that the bridge's lowest mode is a slow up-and-down swing.
Students solved the equations and found three modes for the shaking metal plate.
Note
- 9An old kind of woman's cloak that has a hood.
- 10Something that exists only as a quality of another thing, not on its own.
- 11In lace-making, a small piece set into the pattern as a decoration.
- 12In lace, the light, open work that fills the spaces between the solid parts of a pattern.
Practice
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Origins
From Old French mode, from Latin modus, meaning 'measure' or 'rhythm'.
Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- English mode comes from Old French mode, from Latin modus. en.wiktionary.org
- Latin modus means measure or rhythm. en.wiktionary.org
From French mode, meaning 'fashion' or 'trend'.
Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- English mode in the fashion sense comes from French mode, meaning fashion or trend. en.wiktionary.org