NET (netted, netting)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does net mean? 

• NET (noun)
  The noun NET has 6 senses:

1. a computer network consisting of a worldwide network of computer networks that use the TCP/IP network protocols to facilitate data transmission and exchange

2. a trap made of netting to catch fish or birds or insects

3. the excess of revenues over outlays in a given period of time (including depreciation and other non-cash expenses)

4. a goal lined with netting (as in soccer or hockey)

5. game equipment consisting of a strip of netting dividing the playing area in tennis or badminton

6. an open fabric of string or rope or wire woven together at regular intervals

  Familiarity information: NET used as a noun is common.

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

1. remaining after all deductions

2. conclusive in a process or progression

  Familiarity information: NET used as an adjective is rare.

• NET (verb)
  The verb NET has 4 senses:

1. make as a net profit

2. yield as a net profit

3. construct or form a web, as if by weaving

4. catch with a net

  Familiarity information: NET used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• NET (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A computer network consisting of a worldwide network of computer networks that use the TCP/IP network protocols to facilitate data transmission and exchange

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

cyberspace; internet; net

Hypernyms ("net" is a kind of...):

computer network ((computer science) a network of computers)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A trap made of netting to catch fish or birds or insects

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("net" is a kind of...):

trap (a device in which something (usually an animal) can be caught and penned)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "net"):

fishing net; fishnet (a net that will enclose fish when it is pulled in)

brail (a small net used to draw fish into a boat)

Derivation:

net (catch with a net)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The excess of revenues over outlays in a given period of time (including depreciation and other non-cash expenses)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Synonyms:

earnings; lucre; net; net income; net profit; profit; profits

Hypernyms ("net" is a kind of...):

income (the financial gain (earned or unearned) accruing over a given period of time)

Meronyms (parts of "net"):

part; percentage; portion; share (assets belonging to or due to or contributed by an individual person or group)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "net"):

earning per share (the portion of a company's profit allocated to each outstanding share of common stock)

windfall profit (profit that occurs unexpectedly as a consequence of some event not controlled by those who profit from it)

cleanup; killing (a very large profit)

fast buck; quick buck (quick or easy earnings)

filthy lucre (shameful profit)

gross profit; gross profit margin; margin ((finance) the net sales minus the cost of goods and services sold)

markup (the amount added to the cost to determine the asking price)

accumulation ((finance) profits that are not paid out as dividends but are added to the capital base of the corporation)

dividend (that part of the earnings of a corporation that is distributed to its shareholders; usually paid quarterly)

Derivation:

net (yield as a net profit)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A goal lined with netting (as in soccer or hockey)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("net" is a kind of...):

goal (game equipment consisting of the place toward which players of a game try to advance a ball or puck in order to score points)

Domain category:

field hockey; hockey (a game resembling ice hockey that is played on an open field; two opposing teams use curved hockey sticks try to drive a ball into the opponents' net)

association football; soccer (a football game in which two teams of 11 players try to kick or head a ball into the opponents' goal)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "net"):

cage (the net that is the goal in ice hockey)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Game equipment consisting of a strip of netting dividing the playing area in tennis or badminton

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("net" is a kind of...):

game equipment (equipment or apparatus used in playing a game)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "net"):

volleyball net (the high net that separates the two teams and over which the volleyball must pass)

Sense 6

Meaning:

An open fabric of string or rope or wire woven together at regular intervals

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

mesh; meshing; meshwork; net; network

Hypernyms ("net" is a kind of...):

cloth; fabric; material; textile (artifact made by weaving or felting or knitting or crocheting natural or synthetic fibers)

Meronyms (parts of "net"):

backbone (the part of a network that connects other networks together)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "net"):

gauze; netting; veiling (a net of transparent fabric with a loose open weave)

hairnet (a small net that some women wear over their hair to keep it in place)

reseau (a net or mesh foundation for lace)

safety net (a large strong net to catch circus acrobats who fall or jump from a trapeze)

save-all (a net hung between ship and pier while loading a ship)

snood (an ornamental net in the shape of a bag that confines a woman's hair; pins or ties at the back of the head)

spark arrester; sparker (a wire net to stop sparks from an open fireplace or smokestack)

tulle (a fine (often starched) net used for veils or tutus or gowns)

grillwork; wirework (mesh netting made of wires)

chicken wire (a galvanized wire network with a hexagonal mesh; used to build fences)

Derivation:

net (construct or form a web, as if by weaving)

• NET (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Remaining after all deductions

Synonyms:

net; nett

Context example:

net profit

Similar:

clear (clear of charges or deductions)

take-home ((of salary or wages) remaining after all deductions including taxes)

Antonym:

gross (before any deductions)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Conclusive in a process or progression

Synonyms:

final; last; net

Context example:

the net result

Similar:

ultimate (furthest or highest in degree or order; utmost or extreme)

• NET (verb)

Conjugation:

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make as a net profit

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

clear; net; sack; sack up

Context example:

The company cleared $1 million

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

benefit; gain; profit (derive a benefit from)

Verb group:

bring in; clear; earn; gain; make; pull in; realise; realize; take in (earn on some commercial or business transaction; earn as salary or wages)

clear; net (yield as a net profit)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Yield as a net profit

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

clear; net

Context example:

This sale netted me $1 million

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

bear; pay; yield (bring in)

Verb group:

clear; net; sack; sack up (make as a net profit)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

net (the excess of revenues over outlays in a given period of time (including depreciation and other non-cash expenses))

Sense 3

Meaning:

Construct or form a web, as if by weaving

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Synonyms:

net; web

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

tissue; weave (create a piece of cloth by interlacing strands of fabric, such as wool or cotton)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

net (an open fabric of string or rope or wire woven together at regular intervals)

netting (creating nets)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Catch with a net

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

net; nett

Context example:

net a fish

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

catch; grab; take hold of (take hold of so as to seize or restrain or stop the motion of)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

net (a trap made of netting to catch fish or birds or insects)

 Context examples 

I could observe, in little pieces, as it were; but as to making a net of a number of these pieces, and catching anybody in it, that was, as yet, beyond me.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The molecules will come to stop at the point where the net charge on the molecule is equal to that of the surrounding gel.

(Isoelectric Focusing, NCI Thesaurus)

When used together, the tests cast a broader net and detect subtypes of pancreatic cancer that may have been missed by using one of the two tests on its own.

(New Approach to Pancreatic Cancer Screening May Help Catch Disease Earlier, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

I had my chance, and, starting from that point, I have woven my net round him until now it is all ready to close.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

They all paint tables, cover screens, and net purses.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

In addition to insecticide-treated bed nets, certain drugs can help prevent malaria in infants during the rainy season.

(Drug Prevents Malaria in High-Risk Region, NIH)

The reactions do not involve a net change in the concentrations of compounds other than the substrate and the product.

(Isomerase Gene, NCI Thesaurus)

My God, what a net was cast round me!

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I pointed to the spot where he had disappeared, and we followed the track with boats; nets were cast, but in vain.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

She is netting herself the sweetest cloak you can conceive.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)