impact

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The literal meaning of the noun is 'the action of one body coming forcibly into contact with another', and refers to physical collision. The figurative meaning 'strong effect or influence' is justifiable when there is a corresponding figurative notion of a collision (the impact of Christianity on social justice), but it is questionable when the meaning is no more than 'effect, impression' (the impact of new policing methods on the crime figures). The verb, which is pronounced with the stress on the second syllable, is older than the noun in its physical meaning ('press closely into or in something'). Intransitive uses began to appear in the 20th century, and in 1962 it was reported in a work called Basic Astronautics that a Soviet space rocket had impacted onto the Moon's surface. About the same time figurative uses began to proliferate, corresponding to the figurative meaning of the noun, and these remain common, especially in journalism:

The Magazine...is not the place for consideration of national or international events except in so far as they impact on Oxford—Oxford Magazine, 1956

Radiographers are a dedicated and highly professional group of workers and regret any action which impacts on patient care—Manchester Evening News, 2004.

There has been continued opposition to these uses, both in Britain and in America. When there is so much hostility, it is prudent to use more familiar synonyms, such as effect, influence, and impression for the noun and affect, influence, or have an effect on (or, more specifically, endanger, threaten, risk, etc., when the consequences are unfavourable) for the verb.

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A force, also known as impulsive force, which acts only during a short time interval but which is sufficiently large to cause an appreciable change in the momentum of the system on which it acts. The momentum change produced by the impulsive force is described by the momentum-impulse relation. See also Collision (physics); Impulse (mechanics).

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noun

1. Violent forcible contact between two or more things: bump, collision, concussion, crash, jar, jolt, percussion, shock¹, smash. See conflict/cooperation.
2. The strong effect exerted by one person or thing on another: force, impression, influence, repercussion. See affect/ineffectiveness.
3. The capacity to create a powerful effect: Informal punch, wallop. See affect/ineffectiveness.

The collision of two bodies characterized by the exchange of a large force or forces during a small time interval.

(see Crater) The forceful striking of one body, such as a meteorite, against another body such as a moon or planet.

IN BRIEF: A hitting together with force. Or a strong, immediate effect.

A life is not important, except in the impact it has on other lives. — Jackie Robinson, baseball player and civil rights activist.

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The time-oriented degree of perception. The flavor impact of a product is a measure of the speed of perception of a volatile aroma. High impact would be the immediacy of recognition of a particular nuance or character. Low impact would be a longer-term, lesser-defined character of less recognizable nuance or character. See Character, Nuance, Level, Recognition, Perception, Volatility, Vapor Pressure, Characterizing Ingredients.

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The condition of being impacted. Most commonly a condition in the alimentary tract of herbivores fed on roughage of poor digestibility. See also impactions of anal sacs of dogs, oviduct of birds, scent glands of ruminants.

• i. colic — see impaction colic.
• fecal i. — a syndrome of moderate toxemia, an absence of fecal movements and straining in some cases. There is a collection of putty-like or hardened feces in the rectum or sigmoid. In horses fed on roughage of poor digestibility, the syndrome is one of colic due to impaction in the colon or cecum or both, or of the ileocecal valve. In cattle the syndrome is one of indigestion and ruminal stasis, less commonly abomasal impaction. In both syndromes there is a delayed passage of feces and palpably distended, firm viscera in appropriate locations. Each of these specific impactions is discussed under colic, abomasal impaction, ruminal impaction, omasal impaction, crop-bound and oviduct impaction of birds.
• i. large intestine — see impaction colic.
• teeth i. — see impacted teeth.

For a list of words related to impact, see:

• Space Exploration and Rocketry - impact: rocket or spacecraft striking surface of planet or any other object
• Advertising - impact: degree of success of campaign; reaching of consumers

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See words rhyming with "impact."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Impact.

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - stød, tryk, slag, indtryk, indvirkning
v. tr. - presse ind, presse sammen
v. intr. - have indvirkning på

idioms:

• impact printer    slagprinter
• impacted tooth    retineret tand

Nederlands (Dutch)
impact, schok, raken, treffen

Français (French)
n. - impact, choc, percussion, (Phys) impact, (fig) impact, impression
v. tr. - enfoncer, presser (dans)
v. intr. - (fig) influer (sur)

idioms:

• impact printer    (Imprim) imprimante à impact
• impacted tooth    (Dent) dent barrée

Deutsch (German)
n. - Wirkung, Aufprall, Einschlag
v. - einklemmen

idioms:

• impact printer    Impact-Drucker, Anschlagsdrucker
• impacted tooth    zwischen einem anderen Zahn und dem Kiefer verkeilter Zahn

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - πρόσκρουση, κρούση, σύγκρουση, κτύπημα, χτύπος, (μτφ.) επίδραση, αποτέλεσμα, επιρροή, αντίκτυπος, επίπτωση
v. - προσκρούω

idioms:

• impact printer    κρουστικός εκτυπωτής
• impacted tooth    σφηνωμένο δόντι

Italiano (Italian)
impatto, comprimere

idioms:

• impacted tooth    dente incastrato

Português (Portuguese)
n. - impacto (m)
v. - atingir, imprensar

idioms:

• impacted tooth    dente (m) incluso (Odont.)

Русский (Russian)
удар, толчок, воздействие, столкновение, ударяться, уплотнять, усиливать

idioms:

• impacted tooth    непрорезавшийся зуб

Español (Spanish)
n. - impacto, choque, colisión, efecto, repercusión, consecuencia
v. tr. - apretar fuerte, meter y sujetar firmemente
v. intr. - tener impacto o efecto

idioms:

• impact printer    impresora de impacto
• impacted tooth    diente impactado

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - stöt (isht mek.), kollision, anslag (om projektil), (genomslags)kraft, inverkan, följd, intryck
v. - pressa samman, fylla, kollidera med, kraschlanda på, träffa

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
冲击, 碰撞, 撞击, 影响, 冲击力, 撞击力, 作用, 挤入, 压紧, 产生影响

idioms:

• impact printer    撞击式打印机
• impacted tooth    阻生的牙

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 衝擊, 碰撞, 撞擊, 影響, 衝擊力, 撞擊力, 作用
v. tr. - 擠入, 壓緊, 撞擊
v. intr. - 衝擊, 碰撞, 撞擊, 產生影響

idioms:

• impact printer    撞擊式列印機
• impacted tooth    阻生的牙

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 충돌, 감화, 꽉 끼우기
v. tr. - ~에 꽉 채우다, ~에 충돌하다
v. intr. - 강한 충격을 받다, 세게 부딪히다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 衝撃, 衝突, 影響, 効果
v. - 密着させる, 衝突する, 強い衝撃を与える

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) أثر, تأثير (فعل) يؤثر في‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮התנגשות, השפעה, רושם, מגע, דחיפה, השלכה‬
v. tr. - ‮לחץ, דחס, נעץ‬
v. intr. - ‮השפיע‬

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