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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

bias.

Inclination towards something.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈbaɪ.əs/
  1. Inclination towards something.

    countable · uncountable
  2. The diagonal line between warp and weft in a woven fabric.

    countable
  3. A wedge-shaped piece of cloth taken out of a garment (such as the waist of a dress) to diminish its circumference.

    countable
  4. A voltage or current applied to an electronic device, such as a transistor electrode, to move its operating point to a desired part of its transfer function.

    countable · uncountable
  5. The difference between the expectation of the sample estimator and the true population value, which reduces the representativeness of the estimator by systematically distorting it.

    countable · uncountable
  6. In the games of crown green bowls and lawn bowls: a weight added to one side of a bowl so that as it rolls, it will follow a curved rather than a straight path; the oblique line followed by such a bowl; the lopsided shape or structure of such a bowl. In lawn bowls, the curved course is caused only by the shape of the bowl. The use of weights is prohibited.

    countable · uncountable
  7. A person's favourite member of a K-pop band.

    countable · uncountable
Where this word comes from

c. 1520 in the sense "oblique line". As a technical term in the game of bowls c. 1560, whence the figurative use (c. 1570). From Middle French biais, adverbially ("sideways, askance, against the grain") c. 1250, as a noun ("oblique angle, slant") from the late 16th century. The French word is likely from Old Occitan biais, itself of obscure origin, most likely from Vulgar Latin *biaxius (“with two axes”).

verb/ˈbaɪ.əs/
  1. To place bias upon; to influence.

    transitive
    Our prejudices bias our views.
  2. To give a bias to.

Where this word comes from

c. 1520 in the sense "oblique line". As a technical term in the game of bowls c. 1560, whence the figurative use (c. 1570). From Middle French biais, adverbially ("sideways, askance, against the grain") c. 1250, as a noun ("oblique angle, slant") from the late 16th century. The French word is likely from Old Occitan biais, itself of obscure origin, most likely from Vulgar Latin *biaxius (“with two axes”).

adj/ˈbaɪ.əs/
  1. Inclined to one side; swelled on one side.

  2. Cut slanting or diagonally, as cloth.

  3. Synonym of biased (“exhibiting bias; prejudiced”).

    nonstandard
Where this word comes from

c. 1520 in the sense "oblique line". As a technical term in the game of bowls c. 1560, whence the figurative use (c. 1570). From Middle French biais, adverbially ("sideways, askance, against the grain") c. 1250, as a noun ("oblique angle, slant") from the late 16th century. The French word is likely from Old Occitan biais, itself of obscure origin, most likely from Vulgar Latin *biaxius (“with two axes”).

adv/ˈbaɪ.əs/
  1. In a slanting manner; crosswise; obliquely; diagonally.

    not-comparable
    to cut cloth bias
Where this word comes from

c. 1520 in the sense "oblique line". As a technical term in the game of bowls c. 1560, whence the figurative use (c. 1570). From Middle French biais, adverbially ("sideways, askance, against the grain") c. 1250, as a noun ("oblique angle, slant") from the late 16th century. The French word is likely from Old Occitan biais, itself of obscure origin, most likely from Vulgar Latin *biaxius (“with two axes”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.