1. [n]  a customary way of operation or behavior; "it is their practice to give annual raises"; "they changed their dietary pattern"
2. [n]  a decorative or artistic work; "the coach had a design on the doors"
3. [n]  something regarded as a normative example; "the convention of not naming the main character"; "violence is the rule not the exception"; "his formula for impressing visitors"
4. [n]  something intended as a guide for making something else; "a blueprint for a house"; "a pattern for a skirt"
5. [n]  a perceptual structure; "the composition presents problems for students of musical form"; "a visual pattern must include not only objects but the spaces between them"
6. [n]  a model considered worthy of imitation; "the American constitution has provided a pattern for many republics"
7. [n]  graphical representation (in polar or cartesian coordinates) of the spatial distribution of radiation from an antenna as a function of angle
8. [n]  the path that is prescribed for an airplane that is preparing to land at an airport; "the traffic patterns around O'Hare are very crowded"; "they stayed in the pattern until the fog lifted"
9. [v]  plan or create according to a model or models
10. [v]  form a pattern; "These sentences pattern like the ones we studied before"

Pattern
Children can become mathematical problem solvers, learning to communicate and reason mathematically, by using the Math Counts series. The full-color photographs and simple text encourage talk about topics that are essentially mathematical.

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1. \Pat"tern\, n. (Gun.)
   A diagram showing the distribution of the pellets of a
   shotgun on a vertical target perpendicular to the plane of
   fire.
   

2. \Pat"tern\, n. [OE. patron, F. patron, a patron, also, a
   pattern. See {Patron}.]
   1. Anything proposed for imitation; an archetype; an
      exemplar; that which is to be, or is worthy to be, copied
      or imitated; as, a pattern of a machine.
            I will be the pattern of all patience. --Shak.
   2. A part showing the figure or quality of the whole; a
      specimen; a sample; an example; an instance.
            He compares the pattern with the whole piece.
                                                  --Swift.
   3. Stuff sufficient for a garment; as, a dress pattern.
   4. Figure or style of decoration; design; as, wall paper of a
      beautiful pattern.
   5. Something made after a model; a copy. --Shak.
            The patterns of things in the heavens. --Heb. ix.
                                                  23.
   6. Anything cut or formed to serve as a guide to cutting or
      forming objects; as, a dressmaker's pattern.
   7. (Founding) A full-sized model around which a mold of sand
      is made, to receive the melted metal. It is usually made
      of wood and in several parts, so as to be removed from the
      mold without injuring it.
   {Pattern box}, {chain}, or {cylinder} (Figure Weaving),
      devices, in a loom, for presenting several shuttles to the
      picker in the proper succession for forming the figure.
   {Pattern card}.
      (a) A set of samples on a card.
      (b) (Weaving) One of the perforated cards in a Jacquard
          apparatus.
   {Pattern reader}, one who arranges textile patterns.
   {Pattern wheel} (Horology), a count-wheel.
   

3. \Pat"tern\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Patterned}; p. pr. &
   vb. n. {Patterning}.]
   1. To make or design (anything) by, from, or after, something
      that serves as a pattern; to copy; to model; to imitate.
      --Milton.
            [A temple] patterned from that which Adam reared in
            Paradise.                             --Sir T.
                                                  Herbert.
   2. To serve as an example for; also, to parallel.
   {To pattern after}, to imitate; to follow.