bias

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle), Verb (transitive), Adjective, Adverb
• HYPHEN: bi=as

CIDE DICTIONARY

bias, n. [F. biasis, perh. fr. LL. bifax two-faced; L. bis + facies face. See Bi-, and cf. Face.].

•  A weight on the side of the ball used in the game of bowls, or a tendency imparted to the ball, which turns it from a straight line.  [1913 Webster]

  "Being ignorant that there is a concealed bias within the spheroid, which will . . . swerve away."  [1913 Webster]
•  A leaning of the mind; propensity or prepossession toward an object or view, not leaving the mind indifferent; bent; inclination.  [1913 Webster]

  "Strong love is a bias upon the thoughts."  [1913 Webster]

  "Morality influences men's lives, and gives a bias to all their actions."  [1913 Webster]
•  A wedge-shaped piece of cloth taken out of a garment (as the waist of a dress) to diminish its circumference.  [1913 Webster]
•  A slant; a diagonal; as, to cut cloth on the bias.  [1913 Webster]

Syn. -- Prepossession; prejudice; partiality; inclination. See Bent.

bias, a. 

•  Inclined to one side; swelled on one side.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]
•  Cut slanting or diagonally, as cloth.  [1913 Webster]

bias, adv. 

 In a slanting manner; crosswise; obliquely; diagonally; as, to cut cloth bias.  [1913 Webster]

bias, v. t. 

 To incline to one side; to give a particular direction to; to influence; to prejudice; to prepossess.  [1913 Webster]
"Me it had not biased in the one direction, nor should it have biased any just critic in the counter direction."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

bias, n. & v.
--n.
1 (often foll. by towards, against) a predisposition or prejudice.
2 Statistics a systematic distortion of a statistical result due to a factor not allowed for in its derivation.
3 an edge cut obliquely across the weave of a fabric.
4 Sport a the irregular shape given to a bowl. b the oblique course this causes it to run.
5 Electr. a steady voltage, magnetic field, etc., applied to an electronic system or device.
--v.tr. (biased, biasing; biassed, biassing)
1 (esp. as biased adj.) influence (usu. unfairly); prejudice.
2 give a bias to.

Idiom

bias binding a strip of fabric cut obliquely and used to bind edges. on the bias obliquely, diagonally.

Etymology

F biais, of unkn. orig.

THESAURUS

bias

a thing for, aberrancy, aberration, across, affect, affinity, angle, angle off, animus, aptitude, aptness, aslant, aslope, athwart, atilt, bag, bear off, bend, bend to, bendwise, bent, bevel, beveled, biased, biaswise, branching off, canting, careening, cast, catercorner, catercornered, catercornerways, character, chosen kind, circuitousness, color, conatus, conduce, conduciveness, constitution, contribute, corner, cornerways, cornerwise, crook, crossways, crosswise, cup of tea, curve, declination, deflect, delight, departure, detour, deviance, deviancy, deviate, deviation, deviousness, diagonal, diagonally, diagonalwise, diathesis, diffract, diffuse, digression, discrimination, discursion, disperse, dispose, disposition, distort, divagate, divagation, divarication, diverge, divergence, diversion, divert, dogleg, double, drift, drifting, druthers, eagerness, eccentricity, errantry, excursion, excursus, exorbitation, fancy, fascination, favor, favoritism, feeling for, forejudgment, garble, go, grain, hairpin, have a tendency, head, idiosyncrasy, impulse, inclination, inclinational, inclinatory, incline, inclined, inclining, indirection, individualism, induce, inequality, influence, interest, involvement, jaundice, jaundiced eye, kidney, kittycorner, lead, lean, leaning, liability, liking, listing, look to, lurch, make, makeup, mental set, mettle, mind, mind-set, misconstrue, misdirect, misinterpret, misrender, misrepresent, misuse, mold, move, mutual affinity, mutual attraction, nature, nepotism, oblique, oblique angle, oblique figure, oblique line, obliquity, on the bias, one-sidedness, out of plumb, out of square, parti pris, partialism, partiality, particular choice, partisanism, partisanship, penchant, pererration, personal choice, persuade, pervert, pitched, point, point to, preconception, predilection, predispose, predisposition, preference, preferential treatment, prejudgment, prejudice, prejudice against, prejudice the issue, prepossess, prepossession, probability, proclivity, prompt, proneness, propensity, pull, raking, rambling, readiness, recumbent, redound to, refract, rhomboid, scatter, scratch comma, sensitivity to, separatrix, serve, set, set toward, sheer, shelving, shelvy, shift, shifting, shifting course, shifting path, show a tendency, sideling, sidelong, skew, slant, slanted, slanting, slantways, slantwise, slash, sloped, sloping, slue, soft spot, soften up, solidus, stamp, standpoint, strain, straying, streak, stripe, style, susceptibility, sway, sweep, swerve, swerving, swinging, sympathy, tack, taint, taste, temper, temperament, tend, tendency, thing, thwart, tilted, tilting, tinge, tipped, tipping, tipsy, tone, torture, transverse, trend, tropism, turn, turn of mind, turning, twist, type, undetachment, undispassionateness, unneutrality, variation, varnish, veer, verge, viewpoint, virgule, wandering, warp, weakness, wear down, weigh with, weight, willingness, work, work toward, yaw, zigzag

ROGET THESAURUS

bias

Motive

VB induce, move, draw, draw on, bring in its train, give an impulse, to, inspire, put up to, prompt, call up, attract, beckon, stimulate, spirit up, inspirit, rouse, arouse, animate, incite, foment, provoke, instigate, set on, actuate, act upon, work upon, operate upon, encourage, pat on the back, pat on the shoulder, clap on the back, clap on the shoulder, influence, weigh with, bias, sway, incline, dispose, predispose, turn the scale, inoculate, lead by the nose, have influence with, have influence over, have influence upon, exercise influence with, exercise influence over, exercise influence upon, go round, come round one, turn the head, magnetize, lobby, persuade, prevail with, prevail upon, overcome, carry, bring round to one's senses, bring to one's senses, draw over, win over, gain over, come over, talk over, procure, enlist, engage, invite, court, tempt, seduce, overpersuade, entice, allure, captivate, fascinate, bewitch, carry away, charm, conciliate, wheedle, coax, lure, inveigle, tantalize, cajole, tamper with, bribe, suborn, grease the palm, bait with a silver hook, gild the pill, make things pleasant, put a sop into the pan, throw a sop to, bait the hook, enforce, force, impel, propel, whip, lash, goad, spur, prick, urge, egg on, hound, hurry on, drag, exhort, advise, call upon, press, advocate, set an example, set the fashion, keep in countenance, be persuaded, yield to temptation, come round, concede, obey a call, follow advice, follow the bent, follow the dictates of, act on principle.

Inequality

N inequality, disparity, imparity, odds, difference, unevenness, inclination of the balance, partiality, bias, weight, shortcoming, casting weight, make-weight, superiority, inferiority, inequation, unequal, uneven, disparate, partial, unbalanced, overbalanced, top-heavy, lopsided, biased, skewed, disquiparant, haud passibus aequis.

Affections

N affections, affect, character, qualities, disposition, nature, spirit, tone, temper, temperament, diathesis, idiosyncrasy, cast of mind, cast of soul, habit of mind, habit of soul, frame of mind, frame of soul, predilection, turn, natural turn of mind, bent, bias, predisposition, proneness, proclivity, propensity, propenseness, propension, propendency, vein, humor, mood, grain, mettle, sympathy, soul, heart, breast, bosom, inner man, heart's core, heart's strings, heart's blood, heart of hearts, bottom of one's heart, penetralia mentis, secret and inmost recesses of the heart, cockles of one's heart, inmost heart, inmost soul, backbone, passion, pervading spirit, ruling passion, master passion, furore, fullness of the heart, heyday of the blood, flesh and blood, flow of soul, energy, fervor, fire, force, affected, characterized, formed, molded, cast, attempered, tempered, framed, predisposed, prone, inclined, having a bias, tinctured with, imbued with, penetrated with, eaten up with, inborn, inbred, ingrained, deep-rooted, ineffaceable, inveterate, pathoscopic, congenital, dyed in the wool, implanted by nature, inherent, in the grain, affective, in one's heart, at heart, heart and soul, affection is a coal that must be cool'd else suffe.

Tendency

N tendency, aptness, aptitude, proneness, proclivity, bent, turn, tone, bias, set, leaning to, predisposition, inclination, propensity, susceptibility, conatus, nisus, liability, quality, nature, temperament, idiocrasy, idiosyncrasy, cast, vein, grain, humor, mood, drift, conduciveness, conducement, applicability, subservience, tending, conducive, working towards, in a fair way to, calculated to, liable, subservient, useful, subsidiary, for, whither.

Obliquity

N obliquity, inclination, slope, slant, crookedness, slopeness, leaning, bevel, tilt, bias, list, twist, swag, cant, lurch, distortion, bend, tower of Pisa, acclivity, rise, ascent, gradient, khudd, rising ground, hill, bank, declivity, downhill, dip, fall, devexity, gentle slope, rapid slope, easy ascent, easy descent, shelving beach, talus, monagne Russe, facilis descensus averni.

Wrong

N wrong, what ought not to be, what should not be, malum in se, unreasonableness, grievance, shame, injustice, tort, unfairness, iniquity, foul play, partiality, leaning, bias, favor, favoritism, nepotism, party spirit, partisanship, bigotry, undueness, wrongdoing (vice), unlawfulness, robbing Peter to pay Paul, the wolf and the lamb, vice, a custom more honored in the breach than the obser, wrong, wrongful, bad, too bad, unjust, unfair, inequitable, unequitable, unequal, partial, one-sided, injurious, tortious, objectionable, unreasonable, unallowable, unwarrantable, unjustifiable, improper, unfit, unjustified, illegal, iniquitous, immoral, in the wrong, in the wrong box, wrongly, it will not do.

Misjudgment

N misjudgment, obliquity of judgment, miscalculation, miscomputation, misconception, hasty conclusion, prejudgment, prejudication, prejudice, foregone conclusion, prenotion, prevention, preconception, predilection, prepossession, preapprehension, presumption, assumption, presentiment, fixed idea, preconceived idea, id_ee fixe, mentis gratissimus error, fool's paradise, esprit de corps, party spirit, partisanship, clannishness, prestige, bias, bigotry, warp, twist, hobby, fad, quirk, crotchet, partiality, infatuation, blind side, mote in the eye, one-sided views, one-track mind, partial views, narrow views, confined views, superficial views, one- sided ideas, partial ideas, narrow ideas, confined ideas, superficial ideas, one-sided conceptions, partial conceptions, narrow conceptions, confined conceptions, superficial conceptions, one-sided notions, partial notions, narrow notions, confined notions, superficial notions, narrow mind, bigotry, odium theologicum, pedantry, hypercriticism, doctrinaire, overestimation, underestimation, ignorance, erroneous assumptions, erroneous data, mistaken assumptions, incorrect assumptions (error), misjudging, ill-judging, wrong-headed, prejudiced, jaundiced, shortsighted, purblind, partial, one-sided, superficial, narrow-minded, narrow-souled, mean-spirited, confined, illiberal, intolerant, besotted, infatuated, fanatical, entete, positive, dogmatic, conceited, opinative, opiniative, opinioned, opinionate, opinionative, opinionated, self-opinioned, wedded to an opinion, opini=atre, bigoted, crotchety, fussy, impracticable, unreasonable, stupid credulous, warped, misjudged, ex parte, nothing like leather, the wish the father to the thought, wishful thinking, unshakable conviction, my mind is made up - don't bother me with the fact.

VB misjudge, misestimate, misthink, misconjecture, misconceive, fly in the face of facts, miscalculate, misreckon, miscompute, overestimate, underestimate, prejudge, forejudge, presuppose, presume, prejudicate, dogmatize, have a bias, have only one idea, jurare in verba magistri, run away with the notion, jump to a conclusion, rush to a conclusion, leap to a conclusion, judge hastily, shoot from the hip, jump to conclusions, look only at one side of the shield, view with jaundiced eye, view through distorting spectacles, not see beyond one's nose, dare pondus fumo, get the wrong sow by the ear, give a bias, give a twist, bias, warp, twist, prejudice, prepossess.

Error

N error, fallacy, misconception, misapprehension, misstanding, misunderstanding, inexactness, laxity, misconstruction, miscomputation, non sequitur, mis-statement, mis-report, mumpsimus, mistake, miss, fault, blunder, quiproquo, cross purposes, oversight, misprint, erratum, corrigendum, slip, blot, flaw, loose thread, trip, stumble, botchery, slip of the tongue, slip of the lip, Freudian slip, slip of the pen, lapsus linguae, clerical error, bull, haplography, illusion, delusion, snare, false impression, false idea, bubble, self-decit, self-deception, mists of error, heresy, hallucination, false light, dream, fable, bias, misleading, erroneous, untrue, false, devoid of truth, fallacious, apocryphal, unreal, ungrounded, groundless, unsubstantial, heretical, unsound, illogical, inexact, unexact inaccurate, incorrect, indefinite, illusive, illusory, delusive, mock, ideal, spurious, deceitful, perverted, controvertible, unsustainable, unauthenticated, untrustworthy, exploded, refuted, discarded, in error, under an error, mistaken, tripping, out, out in one's reckoning, aberrant, beside the mark, wide of the mark, wide of the truth, way off, far off, astray, on a false scent, on the wrong scent, in the wrong box, outside the ballpark, at cross purposes, all in the wrong, all out, more or less, errare est humanum, mentis gratissimus error, on the dubious waves of error tost, to err is human, to forgive divine, you lie -- under a mistake.

Folly

N imbecility folly, want of intelligence &c, want of intellect, shadowness, silliness, foolishness, imbecility, incapacity, vacancy of mind, poverty of intellect, weakness of intellect, clouded perception, poor head, apartments to let, stupidity, stolidity, hebetude, dull understanding, meanest capacity, shortsightedness, incompetence, one's weak side, not one's strong point, bias, infatuation, simplicity, puerility, babyhood, dotage, anility, second childishness, fatuity, idiocy, idiotism, driveling, folly, frivolity, irrationality, trifling, ineptitude, nugacity, inconsistency, lip wisdom, conceit, sophistry, giddiness, eccentricity, extravagance, rashness, act of folly, unintelligent, unintellectual, unreasoning, mindless, witless, reasoningless, brainless, halfbaked, having no head, not bright, inapprehensible, weak headed, addle headed, puzzle headed, blunder headed, muddle headed, muddy headed, pig headed, beetle headed, buffle headed, chuckle headed, mutton headed, maggoty headed, grossheaded, beef headed, fat witted, fat-headed, weak-minded, feeble-minded, dull minded, shallow minded, lack- brained, rattle-brained, rattle headed, half witted, lean witted, short witted, dull witted, blunt-witted, shallow-pated, clod-pated, addle- pated, addle-brained, dim-sighted, short-sighted, thick-skulled, weak in the upper story, shallow, borne, weak, wanting, soft, sappy, spoony, dull, dull as a beetle, stupid, heavy, insulse, obtuse, blunt, stolid, doltish, asinine, inapt, prosaic, hebetudinous, childish, child-like, infantine, infantile, babyish, babish, puerile, anile, simple, old-womanish, fatuous, idiotic, imbecile, driveling, blatant, babbling, vacant, sottish, bewildered, blockish, unteachable Boeotian, Boeotic, bovine, ungifted, undiscerning, unenlightened, unwise, unphilosophical, apish, simious, foolish, silly, senseless, irrational, insensate, nonsensical, inept, maudlin, narrow-minded, bigoted, giddy, rash, eccentric, foolish, unwise, injudicious, improper, unreasonable, without reason, ridiculous, absurd, idiotic, silly, stupid, asinine, ill-imagined, ill-advised, ill-judged, ill-devised, mal entendu, inconsistent, irrational, unphilosophical, extravagant, sleeveless, idle, pointless, useless, inexpedient, frivolous, Davus sum non, a fool's bolt is soon shot clitellae bovi sunt im, fools rush in where angels fear to tread, il n' a ni bouche ni eperon, the bookful blockhead, ignorantly read, to varnish nonsense with the charms of sound.