EXACT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does exact mean? 

• EXACT (adjective)
  The adjective EXACT has 2 senses:

1. marked by strict and particular and complete accordance with fact

2. (of ideas, images, representations, expressions) characterized by perfect conformity to fact or truth; strictly correct

  Familiarity information: EXACT used as an adjective is rare.

• EXACT (verb)
  The verb EXACT has 2 senses:

1. claim as due or just

2. take as an undesirable consequence of some event or state of affairs

  Familiarity information: EXACT used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• EXACT (adjective)

Comparative: exacter   
Superlative: exactest   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Marked by strict and particular and complete accordance with fact

Context example:

hit the exact center of the target

Similar:

direct; verbatim (in precisely the same words used by a writer or speaker)

literal (without interpretation or embellishment)

mathematical (characterized by the exactness or precision of mathematics)

perfect (precisely accurate or exact)

photographic (representing people or nature with the exactness and fidelity of a photograph)

rigorous; strict (rigidly accurate; allowing no deviation from a standard)

Also:

accurate (conforming exactly or almost exactly to fact or to a standard or performing with total accuracy)

literal (limited to the explicit meaning of a word or text)

perfect (being complete of its kind and without defect or blemish)

precise (sharply exact or accurate or delimited)

Antonym:

inexact (not exact)

Derivation:

exactness (the quality of being exact)

Sense 2

Meaning:

(of ideas, images, representations, expressions) characterized by perfect conformity to fact or truth; strictly correct

Synonyms:

accurate; exact; precise

Context example:

a precise measurement

Similar:

correct; right (free from error; especially conforming to fact or truth)

Derivation:

exactness (the quality of being exact)

• EXACT (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they exact    ... he / she / it exacts   
Past simple: exacted   
Past participle: exacted   
-ing form: exacting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Claim as due or just

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

demand; exact

Context example:

The bank demanded payment of the loan

Hypernyms (to "exact" is one way to...):

claim (ask for legally or make a legal claim to, as of debts, for example)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "exact"):

command (demand as one's due)

call; call in (demand payment of (a loan))

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something from somebody
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sentence example:

The banks exact the check

Derivation:

exaction (act of demanding or levying by force or authority)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Take as an undesirable consequence of some event or state of affairs

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

claim; exact; take

Context example:

The hard work took its toll on her

Hypernyms (to "exact" is one way to...):

ask; call for; demand; involve; necessitate; need; postulate; require; take (require as useful, just, or proper)

Verb group:

ask; call for; demand; involve; necessitate; need; postulate; require; take (require as useful, just, or proper)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

 Context examples 

The exact rate of ventilation will depend on the geometry of the room.

(Wind more effective than cold air at cooling rooms naturally, University of Cambridge)

The authors note that the exact mechanism by which the gut microbiota is able to influence the miRNAs in the brain remains unclear.

(New Light on Link between Gut Bacteria, Anxiety, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The images appeared sequentially in the exact same location so the brain couldn’t use spatial information to distinguish them.

(How the brain pays attention to faces and places, NIH)

A government-guaranteed loan covered the costs, but the exact figure was kept secret.

(Hungarian state-owned enterprise acquires Hirtenberger Defence Group, Wikinews)

"Our memory reflects our last retrieval of it rather than an exact account of the original event."

(How Our Memory Works, NIH, US)

The north and south winds met where the house stood, and made it the exact center of the cyclone.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

But most of the participants also ate fish, so Schwabl says that right now, "no exact conclusion on plastic origin can be made" on exactly where the plastic is coming from.

(Researchers Discover Microplastics in 100 Percent of People Studied, VOA)

What’s more, this upregulation occurs in the exact location of the degeneration.

(Immune system can slow degenerative eye disease, National Institutes of Health)

The exact mix depends on a honey bee’s age and function in the hive.

(Species Shifts in the Honey Bee Microbiome Differ with Age and Hive Role, U.S. Department of Agriculture)

Due to the expected location, engineers will be unable to view in real time the exact location of impact.

(NASA Spacecraft Achieves Unprecedented Success Studying Mercury, NASA)