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external

external

84 3.8
About other countries rather than the home country
  • adjective
  • /ɪkˈstɜrnəl/
translation icon : exterior
  • Actually we see threats coming from all angles, internal and external, and we wonder what's going to happen to us individually and as a nation.
  • external affairs
  • external threats
  • external influences

Is you know, from violence within or external to the country?

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Examples

  • Newton's first law states an object will remain at rest or in uniform motion in a straight line, unless acted upon by an external force.

  • The enemy was largely isolated and was denied any external aid during the course of the fighting.

    Academic text (2015)
  • So we expose it to external factors that could damage it.

  • So did having an external assessor have an impact here?

  • He said, you know, there were lots of external challenges.

  • External communications have been suspended.

  • They really value when external agencies can come in and help them.

  • A large literature has highlighted the importance of external as well as internal factors in democratization processes.

    Academic text (2013)
  • Analytic models that do not consider the external pressures and obligations students face are incomplete.

    Academic text (2015)
  • The country is facing significant external challenges in trade and diplomacy.

Synonyms

international
vsexternal
2.1

Relating to two or more countries

covers relations with other countries generally, not only between multiple countries
foreign
vsexternal
2.0

About other countries and how a country deals with them

has identical meaning but used as an opposite of domestic

Antonyms

587 2.8

Made or grown in your country, not in other countries

Compounds

A device you connect to a computer by cable to save files

external carotid
  • Specialized
1 5.6

A blood vessel that carries blood to the face, tongue, and outer parts of the head

external iliac artery
  • Specialized
1 5.9

A large blood vessel on each side of the lower abdomen that carries blood to the leg

external jugular vein
  • Specialized
1 4.3

A large tube at the side of the neck that carries blood from the head to the chest

external organ
  • Specialized
1 4.9

A body part on or near the outside of the body

external storage
  • Specialized
1 3.8

A device you plug into a computer to save or move files

A flat slanted muscle on each side of the belly that helps turn and support the upper body

external angle
  • Specialized
6.3

An angle outside a polygon that forms when one side is extended

5.3

A tube in the outer ear that leads to the eardrum

4.6

A blood vessel that carries blood from the neck to the face, tongue, and outer parts of the head

external ear
  • Specialized
2.3

The part of the ear you can see on the outside of the head

external storage
  • Specialized
3.3

A service on the internet where you keep files and access them from any device

7.7

A machine like a steam engine that burns fuel outside its cylinder to use the heat to make motion

external failure cost
  • Specialized
6.5

Money a company loses when faulty products reach customers, for example from returns or repairs

external gill
  • Specialized
8.4

A part that sticks out from an animal and gets oxygen from water

external iliac vein
  • Specialized
5.8

A large vein in the pelvis that carries blood from the leg to the heart

A blood vessel that carries blood to the face and neck

external nasal vein
  • Specialized
7.0

A vein that drains blood from the surface of the nose toward a vein in the face

5.1

A flat muscle on each side of the stomach that helps twist the body and pull in the waist

external orifice
  • Specialized
8.1

An opening at the end of the tube from the bladder where urine comes out

external respiration
  • Specialized
4.6

The process of taking in oxygen and sending out carbon dioxide in the lungs

How Foreign

overseas
86 2.8
international
2.1
external
84 3.8
regional
521 3.5
domestic
405 2.8

Surface Forms

external positive

Morphology

external = extern (transparent) = extern + al

Formed by a straightforward adjective-forming suffix '-al' on 'extern' giving 'relating to the outside', which a learner can map to senses about foreign or outside factors.

Etymology

The word external comes from the Latin externus meaning 'outside' and the prefix ex- meaning 'out', just like in exit. So external affairs are things that come from 'outside' the country — foreign rather than domestic.