section

n 1: a self-contained part of a larger composition; "he always

turns first to the business section"; "the history of

this work is discussed in the next section" [syn: {subdivision}]

2: a very thin slice (of tissue or mineral or other substance)

for examination under a microscope; "sections from the

left ventricle showed diseased tissue"

3: a distinct region or subdivision of a territorial or

political area or community or group of people; "no

section of the nation is more ardent than the South";

"there are three synagogues in the Jewish section"

4: one of several pieces or parts that fit with others to

constitute a whole object: "a section of a fishing rod";

"metal sections were used below ground"; "finished the

final segment of the road" [syn: {segment}]

5: a small team of policemen working as part of a police

platoon

6: one of the portions into which something is regarded as

divided and which together constitute a whole: "the

written part of the exam"; "the finance section of the

company"; "the BBC's engineering division" [syn: {part}, {division}]

7: a land unit of 1 square mile measuring 1 mile on a side

8: (geometry) the area created by a plane cutting through a

solid [syn: {plane section}]

9: a division of an orchestra containing all instruments of the

same class

10: a small army unit usually having a special function

11: a specialized division of a large organization; "you'll find

it in the hardware department"; "she got a job in the

historical section of the Treasury" [syn: {department}]

12: a segment of a citrus fruit; "he ate a section of the

orange"

13: the cutting of or into body tissues or organs (especially by

a surgeon as part of an operation) [syn: {incision}]

v : divide into segments; "segment an orange"; "segment a

compound word" [syn: {segment}]

session

1. A lasting connection between a user (or user

agent) and a {peer}, typically a {server}, usually involving

the exchange of many packets between the user's computer and

the server. A session is typically implemented as a layer in

a network {protocol} (e.g. {telnet}, {FTP}).

In the case of protocols where there is no concept of a

session layer (e.g. {UDP}) or where sessions at the {session

layer} are generally very short-lived (e.g. {HTTP}), {virtual}

sessions are implemented by having each exchange between the

user and the remote host include some form of {cookie} which

stores state (e.g. a unique session ID, information about the

user's preferences or authorisation level, etc.).

See also {login}.

2. A lasting connection using the {session layer} of a

networking protocol.

(1997-08-03)