system

noun

• 1a set of things working together as parts of a mechanism or an interconnecting network; a complex whole:the state railway system fluid is pushed through a system of pipes or channels
• Physiology a set of organs in the body with a common structure or function:the digestive system
• the human or animal body as a whole:you need to get the cholesterol out of your system
• Computing a group of related hardware units or programs or both, especially when dedicated to a single application.
• Geology (in chronostratigraphy) a major range of strata that corresponds to a period in time, subdivided into series: the Devonian system
• Astronomy a group of celestial objects connected by their mutual attractive forces, especially moving in orbits about a centre:the system of bright stars known as the Gould Belt
• short for crystal system.

• 2a set of principles or procedures according to which something is done; an organized scheme or method:a multiparty system of government the public-school system
• a set of rules used in measurement or classification:the metric system
• [mass noun] organized planning or behaviour; orderliness:there was no system at all in the company
• a method of choosing one’s procedure in gambling.

• 3 (the system) the prevailing political or social order, especially when regarded as oppressive and intransigent:don’t try bucking the system

• 4 Music a set of staves in a musical score joined by a brace.