n. a document granting an inventor sole rights to an invention

n. an official document granting a right or privilege

v. grant rights to; grant a patent for

v. make open to sight or notice; "His behavior has patented an embarrassing fact about him"

adj. (of a bodily tube or passageway) open; affording free passage; "patent ductus arteriosus"

n. a legal document giving official permission to do something

adj. noticeable in an unpleasant way: "equally obtrusive was the graffiti"

adj. not mixed with extraneous elements; "plain water"; "sheer wine"; "not an unmixed blessing"

adj. open and observable; not secret or hidden; "an overt lie"; "overt hostility"; "overt intelligence gathering"; "open ballots"

adj. simple and natural; without cunning or deceit; "an artless manner"; "artless elegance"

adj. existing in or produced by nature; not artificial or imitation; "a natural pearl"; "natural gas"; "natural silk"; "natural blonde hair"; "a natural sweetener"; "natural fertilizers"

adj. unornamented; "a simple country schoolhouse"; "her black dress--simple to austerity"

adj. furthest or highest in degree or order; utmost or extreme; "the ultimate achievement"; "the ultimate question"; "man's ultimate destiny"; "the ultimate insult"; "one's ultimate goal in life"

adj. free from pomp or affectation; "comfortable but modest cottages"; "a simple rectangular brick building"; "a simple man with simple tastes"

adj. of or relating to or characteristic of Sparta or its people

adj. without qualification; used informally as (often pejorative) intensifiers; "an arrant fool"; "a complete coward"; "a consummate fool"; "a double-dyed villain"; "gross negligence"; "a perfect idiot"; "pure folly"; "what a sodding mess"; "stark staring mad"; "a thoroughgoing villain"; "utter nonsense"; "the unadulterated truth"

adj. obvious to the eye or mind; "a tower conspicuous at a great distance"; "wore conspicuous neckties"; "made herself conspicuous by her exhibitionistic preening"

adj. capable of being seen or noticed; "a discernible change in attitude"; "a clearly evident erasure in the manuscript"; "an observable change in behavior"

adj. capable or worthy of being perceived; "noticeable shadows under her eyes"; "noticeable for its vivid historical background"; "a noticeable lack of friendliness"

adj. lacking compromising or mitigating elements; exact; "the direct opposite"

adj. (often followed by `from') not alike; different in nature or quality; "plants of several distinct types"; "the word `nationalism' is used in at least two distinct senses"; "gold is distinct from iron"; "a tree related to but quite distinct from the European beech"; "management had interests quite distinct from those of their employees"

adj. without artificial refinement or elegance; "plain homely furniture"; "homely manners"

adj. marked by meekness or modesty; not arrogant or prideful; "a humble apology"; "essentially humble...and self-effacing, he achieved the highest formal honors and distinctions"- B.K.Malinowski

adj. not arrogant or presuming; "unassuming to a fault, skeptical about the value of his work"; "a shy retiring girl"

adj. unornamented; "a simple country schoolhouse"; "her black dress--simple to austerity"

adj. (of handwriting, print, etc.) capable of being read or deciphered; "legible handwriting"

adj. (of language) transparently clear; easily understandable; "writes in a limpid style"; "lucid directions"; "a luculent oration"- Robert Burton; "pellucid prose"; "a crystal clear explanation"; "a perspicuous argument"

adj. precisely and clearly expressed or readily observable; leaving nothing to implication; "explicit instructions"; "she made her wishes explicit"; "explicit sexual scenes"

adj. being or characteristic of or appropriate to everyday language; "common parlance"; "a vernacular term"; "vernacular speakers"; "the vulgar tongue of the masses"; "the technical and vulgar names for an animal species"

adj. plain to see; "undisguised curiosity"

adj. not exceptional in any way especially in quality or ability or size or degree; "ordinary everyday objects"; "ordinary decency"; "an ordinary day"; "an ordinary wine"

adj. not characteristic of or skilled in applied arts and sciences; "nontechnical aspects of the job"; "nontechnical training"; "an untechnical reader"; "in clear effective nontechnical language"

adj. in accord with regular practice or procedure; "took his regular morning walk"; "her regular bedtime"

adj. conforming with or constituting a norm or standard or level or type or social norm; not abnormal; "serve wine at normal room temperature"; "normal diplomatic relations"; "normal working hours"; "normal word order"; "normal curiosity"; "the normal course of events"

adj. recognizable; marked; "noticed a distinct improvement"; "at a distinct (or decided) disadvantage"

adj. without any attempt at concealment; completely obvious; "blatant disregard of the law"; "a blatant appeal to vanity"; "a blazing indiscretion"

adj. not elaborate or elaborated; simple; "plain food"; "stuck to the plain facts"; "a plain blue suit"; "a plain rectangular brick building"

adj. very offensive in smell or taste; "a rank cigar"

adj. conspicuous in position or importance; "a big figure in the movement"; "big man on campus"; "he's very large in financial circles"; "a prominent citizen"

adj. widely known and esteemed; "a famous actor"; "a celebrated musician"; "a famed scientist"; "an illustrious judge"; "a notable historian"; "a renowned painter"

adj. concerned with theory and data rather than practice; opposed to applied; "pure science"

adj. (used informally) completely unclothed

adj. not elaborate or elaborated; simple; "plain food"; "stuck to the plain facts"; "a plain blue suit"; "a plain rectangular brick building"

adj. lacking embellishment or ornamentation; "a plain hair style"; "unembellished white walls"; "functional architecture featuring stark unornamented concrete"

adj. capable of being perceived; especially capable of being handled or touched or felt; "a barely palpable dust"; "felt sudden anger in a palpable wave"; "the air was warm and close--palpable as cotton"; "a palpable lie"

adj. not possible to deny

adj. too obvious to be doubted

adj. clearly evident to the mind; "his opposition to slavery was unmistakable"

adj. lacking pretension or affectation; "an unpretentious country church"; "her quiet unpretentious demeanor"

adj. obvious to the eye; "a visible change of expression"

adj. emptied of emotion; "after the violent argument he felt empty"

adj. impossible to deny or disprove; "incontrovertible proof of the defendant's innocence"; "proof positive"; "an irrefutable argument"

adj. having the power or quality of deciding; "the crucial experiment"; "cast the deciding vote"; "the determinative (or determinant) battle"

adj. characterized by decision and firmness; "an able and decisive young woman"; "we needed decisive leadership"; "she gave him a decisive answer"

adj. established beyond doubt; "a proven liar"; "a Soviet leader of proven shrewdness"

adj. generally agreed upon; not subject to dispute; "the accepted interpretation of the poem"; "an accepted theory"; "the undisputed fact"

adj. not open to question; "an unquestionable (or unequivocal) loss of prestige"

adj. evident without proof or argument; "an axiomatic truth"; "we hold these truths to be self-evident"

adj. capable of being demonstrated or proved; "obvious lies"; "a demonstrable lack of concern for the general welfare"; "practical truth provable to all men"- Walter Bagehot

adj. needing no explanation

adj. easily understood or seen through (because of a lack of subtlety); "a transparent explanation"; "a transparent lie"

adj. made more obvious or prominent; "the effect of...his irregular life could be seen writ large on his gaunt features"