Meaning of process In English

• 0 a series of actions that you take in order to achieve a result:

  • the peace process

  • Increasing the number of women in top management jobs will be a slow process.

  • This decision may delay the process of European unification.

  • The party has begun the painful (= difficult) process of rethinking its policies and strategy.

  • Going to court to obtain compensation is a long process.

  • She arrived at the correct answer by a process of elimination (= by deciding against each answer that was unlikely to be correct until only one was left).

  • the digestive process

  • the ageing process

  • It's all part of the learning process.

  • They have developed a new process for extracting aluminium from bauxite.

• 1 to deal with documents in an official way:

  • Visa applications take 28 days to process.

  • a waste processing plant

  • Returning soldiers need time to process what they have experienced in combat.

  • I need to get those films processed.

• 2 to walk slowly:

  • We watched them process down the aisle.

• 3 a series of actions or events performed to make something or achieve a particular result, or a series of changes that happen naturally:

  • Completing his degree at night was a long process.

  • Graying hair is part of the aging process.

  • We are still in the process of redecorating the house (= working to decorate it).

  • A new process has been developed for removing asbestos.

• 4 to deal with something according to a particular set of actions:

  • Your insurance claim will take about a month to process.

• 5 a series of actions that are needed in order to do something or achieve a result:

  • Management recognizes it is important to get the process right even if it means delaying the project start date.

  • consultation/decision-making/planning process The role offers the opportunity to be a part of the company's decision-making process.

  • approval/evaluation/inspection process

  • complete/finish/start a process

  • a disciplinary/hiring/selection process

  • improve/speed up/streamline a process

• 6 a method of producing goods in a particular industry:

  • an industrial/manufacturing/production process

• 7 to have started doing something:

  • We're in the process of reviewing the court's decision and evaluating our response.

• 8 if something is happening, and something else happens in the process, the second thing happens as a result of the first:

  • A clash with their main supplier means they won't be able to honour their contracts and will lose millions of pounds in the process.

• 9 to change raw materials, for example by adding chemicals or other substances to them, as part of the production of goods:

  • The two new oil refineries will be able to process 250,000 barrels of crude a day.

• 10 to deal with documents in an official way:

  • process applications/claims/orders Insurance claims may take up to 30 days to process.

• 11 if a computer processes data, it uses a set of instructions to organize it and produce a particular result:

  • A bug in the system was preventing it from processing digital image files.