Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Having no balance or symmetry.
- adjective Uneven in distribution.
- adjective Existing or occurring between two incommensurate entities, especially to the detriment of one.
- adjective Characterized by an imbalance in power between two opponents in an armed conflict, especially one in which a weaker force uses unconventional means, such as guerilla or terrorist tactics.
- adjective Chemistry Of or relating to a carbon atom having four different atoms or structural groups attached to it, resulting in an unbalanced spatial arrangement of atoms in a molecule, so that the molecule cannot be superimposed on its mirror image; chiral.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Destitute of symmetry; not symmetrical.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective obsolete Incommensurable.
- adjective Not symmetrical; wanting proportion; esp., not bilaterally symmetrical.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective geometry, general Of a shape, not
symmetric . - adjective cryptography Not involving a
mutual exchange ofkeys between the sender and receiver.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective characterized by asymmetry in the spatial arrangement or placement of parts or components
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Examples
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The term asymmetric warfare is bandied about, another few words, 'hands tied behind backs', would be more appropriate. logdon
On Thursday, the Legg report will be published along with...
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Klar proposed an explanation based on what he refers to as asymmetric cell division Ref 1.
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Klar proposed an explanation based on what he refers to as asymmetric cell division Ref 1.
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IEDs are what the military term asymmetric threats.
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The ones who have gone to what they call asymmetric tactics.
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'The insurgents are extremely mobile, agile and adaptive and they know they can't defeat us man-to-man, firefight-to-firefight, so they use what we call asymmetric tactics to engage us and their weapon of choice is the improvised explosive device,' he said.
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MAD does not work in asymmetric warfare, nor when the attacker does not value their own life, nor when the attacker is willing to sacrifice their own children for furthering theircause.
The Volokh Conspiracy » If you like the BP spill, you’ll love cyberwar
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Bowden agreed to help me by providing his own understanding of civilian deaths in asymmetric warfare.
Matthew Yglesias » Olmert Claims to Control US Foreign Policy
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Extremists will forever be able to demagogue conditions of misery, making continued U.S. involvement in asymmetric warfare an increasingly counterproductive exercise — because killing one terrorist creates five more in his place.
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And so they use what everyone calls asymmetric means to do this.
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