Definition

1. Noun:
   • The act or process of choosing or selecting something from a group of options. This is the core meaning, referring to the action of making a choice.
   • A thing or set of things that have been chosen or are available to be chosen. This refers to the result of the choosing process or the group from which a choice is made.
   • (In biology) A natural or artificial process by which certain heritable traits become more common in a population over generations. This is a specialized scientific meaning.

Examples of Usage

• Noun (Act/Process):
  • The selection of the team captain will happen tomorrow.
  • Careful selection of materials is crucial for the project's success.
• Noun (Things Chosen/Available):
  • The store offers a wide selection of cheeses.
  • The anthology contains a selection of the author's best poems.
• Noun (Biology):
  • Natural selection is a key mechanism of evolution.
  • Artificial selection has produced many modern dog breeds.

Advanced Usage

• "Selection committee/panel": A group of people appointed to choose someone or something.
  • The selection committee will interview the candidates next week.
• "Selection pressure": (Biology) An environmental factor that causes certain traits to be favored for survival and reproduction.
  • Predators exert a strong selection pressure on prey species.

Variants and Related Words

• Select (verb): To choose carefully from a group.
  • Please select your preferred language.
• Selective (adjective): Involving or characterized by careful choice; choosy.
  • She is very selective about the movies she watches.
• Selector (noun): A person or thing that selects.
  • The team selector has a difficult job.

Synonyms

• Choice: The act of choosing or the thing chosen.
• Assortment: A varied collection of things.
• Pick: An informal term for choice or selection.
• Excerpt: A short extract from a text or piece of music.

Related Phrases

• Natural selection: The process whereby organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring.
• Adverse selection: (Economics) A situation where asymmetric information results in a market transaction being more likely to involve a low-quality product.
• Selection bias: (Statistics) A bias introduced by the selection of individuals, groups, or data for analysis.

Idioms

• "The cream of the selection": The best of the available choices.
  • These applicants are the cream of the selection.
• "To have a wide/narrow selection": To have many or few options to choose from.
  • The small village shop has a very narrow selection.

Noun

1. a passage selected from a larger work
   • he presented excerpts from William James' philosophical writings
2. a natural process resulting in the evolution of organisms best adapted to the environment
3. the person or thing chosen or selected
   • he was my pick for mayor
4. an assortment of things from which a choice can be made
   • the store carried a large selection of shoes
5. the act of choosing or selecting
   • your choice of colors was unfortunate
   • you can take your pick