binary
part of speech
adjective (binary); noun (binary — the binary system)
meaning for a pupil
1) A way of writing numbers using only the digits 0 and 1, which computers use. tree →
2) Made of two parts, or having only two choices, like yes or no, on or off. tree →
3) A binary star is a pair of stars that go round each other. tree →
sense in the lessons
In computing lessons, binary is how computers store everything as ones and zeros (bits). In maths, it is base 2 instead of our usual base 10. In science, binary stars orbit each other. In talk about people, «non-binary» describes someone who does not feel only male or only female.
examples
- Computers store pictures and songs in binary. tree →
- In binary, the number 5 is written 101. tree →
- We made bracelets with beads in binary code. tree →
- A light switch is binary: it is on or off. tree →
- Each 0 or 1 in binary is called a bit. tree →
- Sirius is a binary star. tree →
- The question was binary: you could only answer yes or no. tree →
note
Said «BYE-nuh-ree». In maths, binary place values go 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 (doubling) instead of 1, 10, 100: so binary 1010 = 8 + 2 = 10. Trap: «10» in binary means two, not ten. Not to be confused with «binocular» (two eyes).
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «binary» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.