part / piece
1 [C] any of the parts into which sth is divided:
That section of the road is still closed. * The library has a large biology section. * the tail section of the plane
2 [C] a separate part of a structure from which the whole can be put together:
The shed comes in sections that you assemble yourself.
of document / book
3 [C] a separate part of a document, book, etc:
These issues will be discussed more fully in the next section. * the sports section of the newspaper * The report has a section on accidents at work.
group of people
4 [C] a separate group within a larger group of people:
an issue that will affect large sections of the population * the brass section of an orchestra
seealsoRHYTHMSECTION
of organization
5 [C] a department in an organization, institution, etc:
He's the director of the finance section. * the section of the company dealing with customer services
diagram
6 [C] a drawing or diagram of sth as it would look if it were cut from top to bottom or from one side to the other:
The illustration shows a section through a leaf. * The architect drew the house in section.
seealsoCROSSSECTION
medical
7 [C,U] (medical) the act of cutting or separating sth in an operation:
The surgeon performed a section (= made a cut) on the vein.
seealsoCAESAREAN
8 [C] (medical, biology) a very thin flat piece cut from body tissue to be looked at under a MICROSCOPE:
to examine a section from the kidney
verb [VN]
medical / biology
1 (medical) to divide body tissue by cutting
2 (biology) to cut animal or plant tissue into thin slices in order to look at it under a MICROSCOPE
mental patient
3 [oftenpassive] (BrE) to officially send sb with a mental illness to a PSYCHIATRIC hospital
PHRASALVERBS
section sth<->off to separate an area from a larger one:
Parts of the town had been sectioned off.
