universal
adjective
1. of worldwide scope or applicability
- universal experience
Similar word(s): comprehensive, cosmopolitan, ecumenical, general, oecumenical, worldwide
2. applicable to or common to all members of a group or set
- the play opened to universal acclaim
- rap enjoys universal appeal among teenage boys
Similar word(s): general
3. adapted to various purposes, sizes, forms, operations
- universal wrench
- universal chuck
- universal screwdriver
Similar word(s): adaptable
Sentences with universal as an adjective:
- She achieved universal fame.
noun
1. (linguistics) a grammatical rule (or other linguistic feature) that is found in all languages
Definition categories: communication, rule
2. (logic) a proposition that asserts something of all members of a class
Definition categories: communication, proposition
3. a behavioral convention or pattern characteristic of all members of a particular culture or of all human beings
- some form of religion seems to be a human universal
Definition categories: thought, convention, formula, normal, pattern, rule
4. coupling that connects two rotating shafts allowing freedom of movement in all directions
- in motor vehicles a universal joint allows the driveshaft to move up and down as the vehicle passes over bumps