node

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A knob, knot, protuberance, or swelling.
2. n. Botany The point on a stem where a leaf is attached or has been attached; a joint.
3. n. See knot¹.
4. n. Physics A point or region of virtually zero amplitude in a periodic system.
5. n. Mathematics The point at which a continuous curve crosses itself.
6. n. Computer Science A terminal in a computer network.
7. n. Astronomy Either of two diametrically opposite points at which the orbit of a planet intersects the ecliptic.
8. n. Astronomy Either of two points at which the orbit of a satellite intersects the orbital plane of a planet.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A knot, or what resembles one; a knob; a protuberance.
2. n. In pathol.:
3. n. A hard swelling on a ligament, tendon, or bone.
4. n. A hard concretion or incrustation on a joint affected with gout or rheumatism. Specifically
5. n. In anatomy, a joint, articulation, or condyle, as one of the knuckles of the hand, bones being usually enlarged at their articular ends, thus constituting nodes or knotted parts between slenderer portions technically called internodes.
6. n. In entomology, any knot-like part or organ. Specifically— The basal segment of an insect's abdomen when it is short and strongly constricted before and behind, so as to be distinctly separated, not only from the thorax, but from the rest of the abdomen. The term is especially used in describing ants, some species of which have the second abdominal ring constricted in the same manner, forming a second node behind the first.
7. n. In botany, the definite part of a stem which normally bears a leaf, or a whorl of leaves, or in cryptogams, such as Equisetum and Chara, the points on the stem at which foliar organs of various kinds are borne. See cut in next column.
8. n. In astronomy, one of the points in which two great circles of the celestial sphere, such as the ecliptic and equator, or the orbit of a planet and the ecliptic, intersect each other; especially, one of the points at which a celestial orbit cuts the plane of the ecliptic. The node at which a heavenly body passes or appears to pass to the north of the plane of the orbit or great circle with which its own orbit or apparent orbit is compared is called the ascending node; that where it descends to the south is called the demanding node. (See dragon's head and tail, under dragon.) At the vernal equinox the sun is in its ascending node, at the autumnal equinox in its descending node. The straight line joining the nodes is called the line of nodes.
9. n. In acoustics, a point or line in a vibratile body, whether a stretched string or membrane, a solid rod, plate, or bell, or a column of air, which, when the body is thrown into vibration, remains either absolutely or relatively at rest: opposed to loop.
10. n. Figuratively, a knot; an entanglement.
11. n. In dialing, a point or hole in the gnomon of a dial, by the shadow of or light, through which either the hour of the day in dials without furniture, or the parallels of the sun's declination and his place in the ecliptic, etc., in dials with furniture, are shown.
12. n. In geom.:
13. n. A point upon a curve such that any line passing through it cuts the curve at fewer distinct points than lines in general do. At a node a curve has two or more distinct tangents. If two of these are real, the curve appears to cross itself at this point; if they are all imaginary, the point is isolated from the rest, of the real part of the curve.
14. n. A double point of a surface; a point where there is more than one tangent-plane; especially, a conical point where the form of surface in the infinitesimally distant neighborhood is that of a double cone of any order. But there are other kinds of nodes of surfaces, as trinodes, binodes, and unodes (see these words), as well as nodal curves. See nodal.
15. n. A point of a surface: so called because it is a node of the curve of intersection of the surface with the tangent-plane at that point.

Wiktionary

1. n. A knot, knob, protuberance or swelling.
2. n. astronomy The point where the orbit of a planet, as viewed from the Sun, intersects the ecliptic. The ascending and descending nodes refer respectively to the points where the planet moves from S to N and N to S. The respective symbols are ☊ and ☋.
3. n. botany A stem node.
4. n. computer networking A computer or other device attached to a network.
5. n. computing theory A vertex or a leaf in a graph of a network, or other element in a data structure.
6. n. engineering The point at which the lines of a funicular machine meet from different angular directions; -- called also knot.
7. n. geometry The point at which a curve crosses itself, being a double point of the curve. See Crunode, and Acnode.
8. n. graph theory A vertex of a graph.
9. n. medicine A hard concretion or incrustation which forms upon bones attacked with rheumatism, gout, or syphilis; sometimes also, a swelling in the neighborhood of a joint.
10. n. music One of the fixed points of a sonorous string, when it vibrates by aliquot parts, and produces the harmonic tones; nodal line or point.
11. n. rare The knot, intrigue, or plot of a piece.
12. n. technical A hole in the gnomon of a sundial, through which passes the ray of light which marks the hour of the day, the parallels of the Sun's declination, his place in the ecliptic, etc.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. A knot, a knob; a protuberance; a swelling.
2. n. (Astron.) One of the two points where the orbit of a planet, or comet, intersects the ecliptic, or the orbit of a satellite intersects the plane of the orbit of its primary.
3. n. (Bot.) The joint of a stem, or the part where a leaf or several leaves are inserted.
4. n. (Dialing) A hole in the gnomon of a dial, through which passes the ray of light which marks the hour of the day, the parallels of the sun's declination, his place in the ecliptic, etc.
5. n. (Geom.) The point at which a curve crosses itself, being a double point of the curve. See Crunode, and Acnode.
6. n. (Mech.) The point at which the lines of a funicular machine meet from different angular directions; -- called also knot.
7. n. (Poet.) The knot, intrigue, or plot of a piece.
8. n. (Med.) A hard concretion or incrustation which forms upon bones attacked with rheumatism, gout, or syphilis; sometimes also, a swelling in the neighborhood of a joint.
9. n. (Mus) One of the fixed points of a sonorous string, when it vibrates by aliquot parts, and produces the harmonic tones; nodal line or point.
10. n. (Zoöl.) A swelling.
11. n. (Math., Computers) A special point in a graph or diagram which is attached to other points by links. It is often labeled and represented graphically as a box or circle. A node may represent any object which is related to other objects in a conceptual structure that can be represented as a graph, the relations being represented as links between the nodes.
12. n. (Anat.) A small mass of tissue differing from other tissue in its immediate vicinity.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a connecting point at which several lines come together
2. n. (physics) the point of minimum displacement in a periodic system
3. n. the source of lymph and lymphocytes
4. n. (astronomy) a point where an orbit crosses a plane
5. n. any thickened enlargement
6. n. (botany) the small swelling that is the part of a plant stem from which one or more leaves emerge
7. n. (computer science) any computer that is hooked up to a computer network
8. n. any bulge or swelling of an anatomical structure or part