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# binary

«binary» in Mova's school dictionary: **A way of writing numbers using only the digits 0 and 1…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### 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 →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/binary/#m1)

2) Made of two parts, or having only two choices, like yes or no, on or off. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/binary/#m2)

3) A binary star is a pair of stars that go round each other. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/binary/#m3)

### 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 →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/binary/#x1)
- In binary, the number 5 is written 101. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/binary/#x2)
- We made bracelets with beads in binary code. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/binary/#x3)
- A light switch is binary: it is on or off. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/binary/#x4)
- Each 0 or 1 in binary is called a bit. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/binary/#x5)
- Sirius is a binary star. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/binary/#x6)
- The question was binary: you could only answer yes or no. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/binary/#x7)

### 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](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/B/binary/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.