heuristics
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heu·ris·tic
(hyo͝o-rĭs′tĭk)adj.
1. Of or relating to a usually speculative formulation serving as a guide in the investigation or solution of a problem: "The historian discovers the past by the judicious use of such a heuristic device as the 'ideal type'" (Karl J. Weintraub).
2. Of or constituting an educational method in which learning takes place through discoveries that result from investigations made by the student.
3. Computers Relating to or using a problem-solving technique in which the most appropriate solution of several found by alternative methods is selected at successive stages of a program for use in the next step of the program.
n.
1. A heuristic method or process.
2. heuristics(used with a sing. verb) The study and application of heuristic methods and processes.
[From Greek heuriskein, to find.]
heu·ris′ti·cal·ly adv.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
heuristics
(hjʊəˈrɪstɪks)n
1. (Logic) (functioning as singular) maths logic a method or set of rules for solving problems other than by algorithm. See also algorithm1, artificial intelligence
2. (Mathematics) (functioning as singular) maths logic a method or set of rules for solving problems other than by algorithm. See also algorithm1, artificial intelligence
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
heuristics
a method of argument in which postulates or assumptions are made that remain to be proven or that lead the arguers to discover the proofs themselves. — heuristic, adj.
See also: Argumentation-Ologies & -Isms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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