combination

n 1: a collection of things that have been combined; an

assemblage of separate parts or qualities

2: an occurrence that results in things being combined [syn: {combining},

{combine}]

3: a sequence of numbers or letters that opens a combination

lock; "he forgot the combination to the safe"

4: a group of people (often temporary) having a common purpose;

"they were a winning combination"

5: an alliance of people or corporations or countries for a

special purpose (formerly to achieve some antisocial end

but now for general political or economic purposes)

6: the act of arranging elements into specified groups without

regard to order

7: the act of combining things [syn: {combining}, {compounding}]

combination

1. A {set} containing a certain number of

objects selected from another set.

The number of combinations of r objects chosen from a set of n

is

n C r ◦ n! / ((n-r)! r!)

where "n C r" is normally with n and r as subscripts or as n

above r in parentheses.

See also {permutation}.

2. In the theory of {combinator}s, a combination

denotes an expression in which {function application} is the

only operation.

(1995-04-10)