Biases

a particular tendency, trend, inclination, feeling, or opinion, especially one that is preconceived or unreasoned: illegal bias against older job applicants; the magazine’s bias toward art rather than photography;
our strong bias in favor of the idea.
unreasonably hostile feelings or opinions about a social group; prejudice:
accusations of racial bias.
an oblique or diagonal line of direction, especially across a woven fabric.
statistics. a systematic as opposed to a random distortion of a statistic as a result of sampling procedure.
lawn bowling.

a slight bulge or greater weight on one side of the ball or bowl.
the curved course made by such a ball when rolled.

electronics. the application of a steady voltage or current to an active device, as a diode or transistor, to produce a desired mode of operation.
a high-frequency alternating current applied to the recording head of a tape recorder during recording in order to reduce distortion.
cut, set, folded, etc., diagonally:
this material requires a bias cut.
in a diagonal manner; obliquely; slantingly:
to cut material bias.
to cause to hold or exhibit a particular bias; to influence, especially unfairly: a tearful plea designed to bias the jury;
a survey biased toward highly educated people.
electronics. to apply a steady voltage or current to (the input of an active device).
on the bias,

in the diagonal direction of the cloth.
out of line; slanting.

contemporary examples

mumbling wins oscars! zachary pincus-roth march 2, 2010
designer duro olowu mixes fashion and art in pop-up exhibition robin givhan february 11, 2012
this week’s hot reads: dec. 24, 2013 thomas flynn, charles shafaieh december 23, 2013
the facts about ferguson matter, dammit doug mcintyre december 2, 2014
chuck todd’s lousy obama takedown william o’connor november 13, 2014

historical examples

human nature and conduct john dewey
the minister’s wooing harriet beecher stowe
a compilation of the messages and papers of the presidents james d. richardson
mark twain, a biography, 1835-1910, complete albert bigelow paine
essays in experimental logic john dewey

noun
mental tendency or inclination, esp an irrational preference or prejudice
a diagonal line or cut across the weave of a fabric
(electronics) the voltage applied to an electronic device or system to establish suitable working conditions
(bowls)

a bulge or weight inside one side of a bowl
the curved course of such a bowl on the green

(statistics)

an extraneous latent influence on, unrecognized conflated variable in, or selectivity in a sample which influences its distribution and so renders it unable to reflect the desired population parameters
if t is an estimator of the parameter θ, the expected value of (t–θ)

an inaudible high-frequency signal used to improve the quality of a tape recording
adjective
slanting obliquely; diagonal: a bias fold
adverb
obliquely; diagonally
verb (transitive) -ases, -asing, -ased, –sses, –ssing, –ssed
(usually p-ssive) to cause to have a bias; prejudice; influence
n.

for what a man had rather were true he more readily believes. therefore he rejects difficult things from impatience of research; sober things, because they narrow hope; the deeper things of nature, from superst-tion; the light of experience, from arrogance and pride, lest his mind should seem to be occupied with things mean and transitory; things not commonly believed, out of deference to the opinion of the vulgar. numberless in short are the ways, and sometimes imperceptible, in which the affections colour and infect the understanding. [francis bacon, “novum organum,” 1620]

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