pattern

I UK [ˈpætə(r)n] / US [ˈpætərn] noun [countable]
Word forms "pattern":
singular pattern plural patterns
***

1) a series of actions or events that together show how things normally happen or are done

pattern of:

Patterns of employment in urban areas are different from those in the countryside.

pattern of:

We examined patterns of behaviour in young children.

follow a pattern (= happen according to a pattern):

Training and education follow different patterns in different regions.

a pattern emerges/occurs:

With such limited data no clear pattern emerges.

a set/fixed pattern:

There is no set pattern for grieving when a loved one dies.

behaviour/sleep patterns:

survival-oriented behaviour patterns

•

Collocations:
Verbs frequently used with pattern as the object ▪  conform to, create, establish, exhibit, follow, form, produce, reveal, show

2) a set of lines, shapes, or colours that are repeated regularly

The carpet was old, with strange patterns on it.

a) a set of sounds that are repeated regularly, for example in a poem

a simple rhyming pattern

b) a set of movements that are repeated regularly

These birds have different flight patterns.

3) a drawing or shape that you use when you are making something, so that you get the shape and size correct

a sewing/knitting pattern

•

set a pattern (for something) — to be a good example that people will copy in the future

We're building a transport system that sets a pattern for the future.

II UK [ˈpætə(r)n] / US [ˈpætərn] verb [transitive]
Word forms "pattern":
present tense I/you/we/they pattern he/she/it patterns present participle patterning past tense patterned past participle patterned

1) to make a pattern on something, for example cloth

2) [usually passive] to make something so that it is similar to another thing

be patterned on/after something:

modern housing developments patterned on 19th-century villages