process

Universal Words noun, verb-see also PROCESS noun 1 a series of things that are done in order to achieve a particular result: the Middle East peace process * a consultation process * to begin the difficult process of reforming the education system * I'm afraid getting things changed will be a slow process. * cognitive / mental processes * Coming off the drug was a long and painful (= difficult) process for him. * Find which food you are allergic to by a process of elimination. * We're in the process of selling our house. * I was moving some furniture and I twisted my ankle in the process (= while I was doing it). 2 a series of things that happen, especially ones that result in natural changes: the digestive / ageing process * It's a normal part of the learning process. 3 a method of doing or making sth, especially one that is used in industry: manufacturing processes * a new process for rustproofing car bodies verb [VN] 1 to treat raw material, food, etc. in order to change it, preserve it, etc: Most of the food we buy is processed in some way. * processed cheese * I sent three rolls of film away to be processed. * a sewage processing plant 2 to deal officially with a document, request, etc: It will take a week for your application to be processed. 3 (computing) to perform a series of operations on data in a computer processing noun [U]: a course on colour photography and processing * the food processing industry seealsoDATAPROCESSING, WORDPROCESSING verb [V+adv./prep.] (formal) to walk or move along slowly in, or as if in, a procession: The bishop, priests and deacons processed slowly through the cathedral. seealsoPROCESS