ambiguous claim | A claim that could be interpreted in more than one way and whose meaning is not made clear by the context.
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analytical definition | A definition that specifies (1) the type of thing the defined term applies to and (2) the difference between that thing and other things of the same type.
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composition, fallacy of | To think that what holds true of a group of things taken individually necessarily holds true of the same things taken collectively.
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definition by example | Defining a term by pointing to, naming, or describing one or more examples of something to which the term applies.
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definition by synonym | Defining a term by giving a word or phrase that means the same thing.
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division, fallacy of | To think that what holds true of a group of things taken collectively necessarily holds true of the same things taken individually.
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emotive force | The feelings, attitudes, or emotions a word or an expression expresses or elicits.
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explanatory definition | A definition used to explain, illustrate, or disclose important aspects of a difficult concept.
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fallacy | An argument in which the reasons advanced for a claim fail to warrant acceptance of that claim.
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mean | A type of average. The arithmetic mean of a group of numbers is the number that results when their sum is divided by the number of members in the group.
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median | A type of average. In a group of numbers, as many numbers of the group are larger than the median as are smaller.
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mode | A type of average. In a group of numbers, the mode is the number occurring most frequently.
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precising definition | A definition that limits the applicability of a term whose usual meaning is too vague for the use in question.
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rhetorical force | See emotive force.
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semantically ambiguous claim | An ambiguous claim whose ambiguity is due to the ambiguity of a word or phrase in the claim.
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stipulative definition | A definition used to introduce an unfamiliar term or to assign a new meaning to a familiar term.
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syntactically ambiguous claim | An ambiguous claim whose ambiguity is due to the structure of the claim.
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vague claim | A claim that lacks sufficient precision to convey the information appropriate to its use.
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