scapular

adj : relating to or near the shoulder blade

n 1: a feather covering the shoulder of a bird

2: a long wide piece of woolen cloth worn over the shoulders

with an opening for the head; part of a monastic habit

[syn: {scapulary}]

scalar

1. A single number, as opposed to a {vector} or

{matrix} of numbers. Thus, for example, "scalar

multiplication" refers to the operation of multiplying one

number (one scalar) by another and is used to contrast this

with "matrix multiplication" etc.

2. In a {parallel processor} or {vector

processor}, the "scalar processor" handles all the sequential

operations - those which cannot be parallelised or vectorised.

See also {superscalar}.

3. A data type in {Perl} combining what in many

other languages is either a {string} or a {number}.

(1998-12-18)