1. The act of projecting or the condition of being projected.
2. A thing or part that extends outward beyond a prevailing line or surface: spiky projections on top of a fence; a projection of land along the coast.
3. A plan for an anticipated course of action: "facilities [that] are vital to the projection of U.S. force . . . in the Pacific" (Alan D. Romberg).
4. A prediction or an estimate of something in the future, based on present data or trends.
5. 1. The process of projecting an image onto a screen or other surface for viewing.
   2. An image so projected.
6. Mathematics. The image of a geometric figure reproduced on a line, plane, or surface.
7. A system of intersecting lines, such as the grid of a map, on which part or all of the globe or another spherical surface is represented as a plane surface.
8. Psychology.
   1. The attribution of one's own attitudes, feelings, or suppositions to others: "Even trained anthropologists have been guilty of unconscious projection-of clothing the subjects of their research in theories brought with them into the field" (Alex Shoumatoff).
   2. The attribution of one's own attitudes, feelings, or desires to someone or something as a naive or unconscious defense against anxiety or guilt.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.