Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The quality or condition of being technical.
  • noun Something meaningful or relevant only to a specialist.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Technicalness; technical character or quality.
  • noun That which is technical, or peculiar to any science, art, calling, sect, etc.; a technical expression or method: as, legal technicalities.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The quality or state of being technical; technicalness.
  • noun That which is technical, or peculiar to any trade, profession, sect, or the like.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun the quality or state of being technical
  • noun that which is technical, or peculiar to any trade, profession, sect, or the like.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a detail that is considered insignificant

Etymologies

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Examples

  • The propaganda value of letting a “terrorist” off on a technicality is actually higher than the propaganda value of generating some ad hoc solution that has a 100% conviction rate.

    Matthew Yglesias » Indefinite Detention Comes to American Soil 2010

  • Amber Alert Tuesday night on what they call a technicality.

    ABC News: Top Stories 2011

  • Beqaj said Bresnan's application was rejected on what he called a technicality, because the company did not offer a 20 percent match of its own funds to help finance the project.

    billingsgazette.com 2010

  • Beqaj said Bresnan's application was rejected on what he called a technicality, because the company did not offer a 20 percent match of its own funds to help finance the project.

    billingsgazette.com 2010

  • This kind of technicality is just what would catch the imaginations of the wingnuts who natter on about claims of his not being born in the U.S. etc.

    Discourse.net: Geekish, But Oh So Cool 2009

  • This little technicality is often lost when talking about housing.

    Housing's P/E Ratio, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty 2009

  • The day we get to dismiss the drugging and raping of a minor and subsequent refusal to face punishment for thirty years a "minor technicality" is the day the justice system means absolutely nothing to rape victims around the globe.

    The Mondays 2009

  • The day we get to dismiss the drugging and raping of a minor and subsequent refusal to face punishment for thirty years a "minor technicality" is the day the justice system means absolutely nothing to rape victims around the globe.

    Archive 2009-09-01 2009

  • ` ` The fact that we don't get in on a technicality is something we'll have to live with. ''

    USATODAY.com 2008

  • For me, the fact that Bush/Cheney could undo the old EO and fix this technicality is more of a reason this is NOT a big deal.

    Waldo Jaquith - The Dick Cheney branch of government. 2007

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