virtual

Pluralvirtuals (some meanings)

1. 1
   adjective

   Being something in effect or result, but not in real fact.

   Like being the boss of a group in everything but name.

   Although she held no official title, she was the virtual head of the household.

   The new rules gave the manager virtual control over every hiring decision.

   Similareffective

   Oppositereal, actual, true

   Note
2. 2
   adjective

   Almost complete or nearly total, even if not quite exact.

   Like a glass so full it might as well be all the way.

   The heavy snow brought traffic to a virtual standstill.

   By midseason the team had a virtual lock on first place.

   Similareffective, near

   Note
3. 3
   adjective

   Done through a computer or the internet instead of in person.

   Like meeting your friends in a video call instead of at their house.

   The company held a virtual meeting with staff in six countries.

   She took virtual classes from home all year.

   Similaronline, remote

   Oppositein-person, face-to-face, physical

   Note
4. 4
   adjective

   Made by a computer to seem real, but not actually real.

   Like a pretend world inside a computer that you can move around in.

   The game lets you explore a virtual city full of shops and parks.

   Players build their own homes in a virtual world.

   Similarsimulated, digital

   Oppositereal, physical, actual

   Note
5. 5
   noununcountable

   A computer-made version of a real sport, such as a simulated horse race you can bet on.

   Like a video-game horse race that you can put money on.

   He placed a small bet on the virtual and watched the race play out on screen.

   Many betting shops show virtuals between the real matches.

   Note
6. 6
   adjective

   In programming, able to be replaced by a new version in a related class.

   Like a recipe step that each cook is allowed to do their own way.

   The teacher showed how a virtual method can be changed in a child class.

   Mark the function as virtual so other classes can replace it.

   Note
7. 7
   noununcountable

   The copied or made-up version of something, instead of the real thing.

   Like a photo of a place: it stands in for the real spot but isn't it.

   In that book, the author argues the virtual can feel as real as anything we touch.

   Each model is a virtual standing in for something that never physically existed.

   Note
8. 8
   adjective

   In optics, describing an image or point that light only seems to come from.

   Like your reflection in a mirror: it looks like it's behind the glass, but nothing is really there.

   A flat mirror makes a virtual image that seems to sit behind the glass.

   The lens formed a virtual image you could not catch on a screen.

   Oppositereal

   Note
9. 9
   adjective

   In physics, describing tiny particles that exist for only a very short time.

   Like bubbles that appear and burst so fast you can barely see them.

   A virtual particle pops in and out of existence almost instantly.

   Empty space is full of virtual particles appearing and vanishing.

   Note
10. 10
    adjective

    Describing a tiny state in physics that lasts only a moment and cannot be seen directly.

    Like a spark that flashes and is gone before you can really look at it.

    As it absorbs light, the atom passes briefly through a virtual state.

    In this model, a virtual state lasts far too briefly for any instrument to detect it.

    Note

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