permanent

[[t]pɜ͟ː(r)mənənt[/t]]

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permanents

1) ADJ Something that is permanent lasts for ever.

Heavy drinking can cause permanent damage to the brain.

...a permanent solution to the problem...

The ban is intended to be permanent.

Ant:

temporary

Derived words:

permanently ADV ADV with v, ADV adj

His reason had been permanently affected by what he had witnessed...

The only way to lose weight permanently is to completely change your attitudes toward food.

permanence N-UNCOUNT

Anything which threatens the permanence of the treaty is a threat to stability and to peace.

permanency N-UNCOUNT

They gradually realized the permanency of their condition.

2) ADJ: usu ADJ n You use permanent to describe situations or states that keep occurring or which seem to exist all the time; used especially to describe problems or difficulties.

...a permanent state of tension...

They feel under permanent threat...

There was a permanent 20-yard queue for the portable toilets.

Syn:

constant

Derived words:

permanently ADV

...the heavy, permanently locked gate.

3) ADJ: ADJ n A permanent employee is one who is employed for an unlimited length of time.

At the end of the probationary period you will become a permanent employee.

...a permanent job.

Ant:

temporary

Derived words:

permanently ADV ADV with v

...permanently employed registered dockers.

4) ADJ: ADJ n Your permanent home or your permanent address is the one at which you spend most of your time or the one that you return to after having stayed in other places.

York Cottage was as near to a permanent home as the children knew...

They had no permanent address.

5) N-COUNT A permanent is a treatment where a hair stylist curls your hair and treats it with a chemical so that it stays curly for several months. [AM]

(in BRIT, use perm)