serial: Meaning and Definition of

se•ri•al

Pronunciation: (sēr'ē-ul), [key]
— n.
  1. anything published, broadcast, etc., in short installments at regular intervals, as a novel appearing in successive issues of a magazine.
  2. a publication in any medium issued in successive parts bearing numerical or chronological designation and intended to be continued indefinitely.
—adj.
  1. published in installments or successive parts: a serial story.
  2. pertaining to such publication.
  3. of, pertaining to, consisting of, or occurring in a series rather than simultaneously: Some societies condemn both polygamy and serial marriages.
  4. effecting or producing a series; sequential: The police think a serial killer is responsible for five homicides in this city last month.
    1. of or pertaining to the apparent or actual performance of data-processing operations one at a time (distinguished from parallel).
    2. of or pertaining to the transmission or processing of each part of a whole in sequence, as each bit of a byte or each byte of a computer word (distinguished from parallel).
  5. of, pertaining to, or composed in serial technique.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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