n.
- inclination or prejudice for or against one thing or person.
▸a systematic distortion of a statistical result due to a factor not allowed for in its derivation.
- a diagonal across the grain of a fabric.
- Bowls the irregular shape given to one side of a bowl.
▸the oblique course taken by such a bowl.
- Electronics a steady voltage, magnetic field, or other factor applied to a system to cause it to operate over a predetermined range.
v.
(biases, biasing, biased or biases, biassing, biassed)
- influence unfairly; prejudice.
- Electronics give a bias to.
Etymology
C16 (in the sense ‘oblique line’): from Fr. biais, from Provençal.