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noun
1.
the exclusive right granted by a government to an inventor to manufacture, use, or sell an invention for a certain number of years.
2.
an invention or process protected by this right.
3.
an official document conferring such a right; letters patent.
4.
the instrument by which the government of the United States conveys the legal fee-simple title to public land.
5.
patent leather.
adjective, Also, patent (for 10, 12–15)
6.
protected by a patent; patented:
a patent cooling device.
7.
pertaining to, concerned with, or dealing with patents, especially on inventions:
a patent attorney; patent law.
8.
conferred by a patent, as a right or privilege.
9.
holding a patent, as a person.
10.
readily open to notice or observation; evident; obvious:
a patent breach of good manners.
11.
made of patent leather:
patent shoes.
12.
lying open; not enclosed or shut in:
a patent field.
13.
Chiefly Botany. expanded or spreading.
14.
open, as a doorway or a passage.
15.
Phonetics. open, in various degrees, to the passage of the breath stream.
verb (used with object)
16.
to take out a patent on; obtain the exclusive rights to (an invention, process, etc.) by a patent.
17.
to originate and establish as one’s own.
18.
Metallurgy. to heat and quench (wire) so as to prepare for cold-drawing.
19.
to grant (public land) by a patent.
noun
1.

a government grant to an inventor assuring him the sole right to make, use, and sell his invention for a limited period
a document conveying such a grant

2.
an invention, privilege, etc, protected by a patent
3.

an official document granting a right
any right granted by such a document

4.
(in the US)

a grant by the government of title to public lands
the instrument by which such title is granted
the land so granted

5.
a sign that one possesses a certain quality
adjective
6.
open or available for inspection (esp in the phrases letters patent, patent writ)
7.
(ˈpeɪtənt). obvious: their scorn was patent to everyone
8.
concerning protection, appointment, etc, of or by a patent or patents
9.
proprietary
10.
(esp of a bodily passage or duct) being open or unobstructed
11.
(biology) spreading out widely: patent branches
12.
(of plate glass) ground and polished on both sides
verb (transitive)
13.
to obtain a patent for
14.
(in the US) to grant (public land or mineral rights) by a patent
15.
(metallurgy) to heat (a metal) above a transformation temperature and cool it at a rate that allows cold working

patent pat·ent (pāt’nt)
n.

A grant made by a government that confers upon the creator of an invention the sole right to make, use, and sell that invention for a set period of time.

An invention protected by such a grant.

adj.

Of, relating to, or being a nonprescription drug or other medical preparation that is often protected by a trademark.

(pāt’nt) Not blocked; open.

(pāt’nt ) Spreading open; expanded.

v. pat·ent·ed, pat·ent·ing, pat·ents

To obtain a patent on or for something, such as an invention.

To invent, originate, or be the proprietor of an idea.

To grant a patent to somone or for something.