method

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɛθəd/

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• Hyphenation: meth‧od

From Middle French methode, from Latin methodus, from Ancient Greek μέθοδος (méthodos).

method (countable and uncountable, plural methods)

1. A process by which a task is completed; a way of doing something (followed by the adposition of, to or for before the purpose of the process):
   • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 3, in The Mirror and the Lamp:

     One saint's day in mid-term a certain newly appointed suffragan-bishop came to the school chapel, and there preached on “The Inner Life.”  He at once secured attention by his informal method, and when presently the coughing of Jarvis […] interrupted the sermon, he altogether captivated his audience with a remark about cough lozenges being cheap and easily procurable.

   • 2013 May-June, William E. Conner, “An Acoustic Arms Race”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, page 206-7:

     Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close […] above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them. Many insects probably use this strategy, which is a close analogy to crypsis in the visible world—camouflage and other methods for blending into one’s visual background.

   One method of exercising a cat consists of making it follow the spot generated by a laser pointer.

   If one method doesn't work, you should ask a friend to help you.

2. (acting, often "the method") A technique for acting based on the ideas articulated by Constantin Stanislavski and focusing on authentically experiencing the inner life of the character being portrayed.
3. (object-oriented programming) A subroutine or function belonging to a class or object.
4. (slang) Marijuana.
5. (dated) An instruction book systematically arranged.

method (third-person singular simple present methods, present participle methoding, simple past and past participle methoded)

1. (transitive) to apply a method
   • 1809, Rachel Russell (baroness.), Letters. To which is prefixed, an intr. vindicating the character of lord ...

     "Says he, there is above ten thousand brisk boys are ready to follow me, whenever I hold up my finger : — Says I, how have you methoded this, that they shall not be crushed, for there will be a great force to oppose you?"

2. (casting, by extension, transitive) to apply particular treatment methods to a mold

   The company employs extensive use of 3D modelling combined with solidification simulation to ensure that critical castings are properly methoded.

Abbreviation.

method (plural methods)

1. (skateboarding, snowboarding) Ellipsis of method air.

• mothed