professional has definitions from the fields of work,sport
1
[ adjective ] engaged in a profession or engaging in as a profession or means of livelihood

Examples

"began her professional career after the Olympics" "professional theater" "professional football" "a professional cook" "professional actors and athletes"

Used in print

(The New York Times,...)

Skorich , who is 39 years old , played football at Cincinnati_University and_then had a three year professional career as a lineman under Jock_Sutherland with the Pittsburgh_Steelers .

Later , Shea owned and operated the Long_Island Indians , a minor_league professional football_team .

Other items on the agenda during the meetings , which are expected to continue through Saturday , concern television , rules changes , professional football 's hall_of_fame , players ' benefits and constitutional amendments .

(Guy Endore, Voltaire! Voltaire!...)

Rousseau had_to admit that though he could n't agree to a public performance , he would indeed , just for his own private satisfaction , dearly love to know how his work would sound when done by professional musicians and by trained voices .

2
[ adjective ] of or relating to or suitable as a profession

Examples

"professional organizations" "a professional field such as law"

Used in print

(Edward Austin Walton, "On Education for the Interior...)

The professional organizations such_as American_Institute_of_Interior_Designers , National_Society_of_Interior_Designers , Home_Fashions_League and various trade associations , can and do aid greatly in this work .

Not_only should every educator above the rank of instructor be expected to be a member of one of the professional organizations , but his first qualification for membership as an educator should be so sharply scrutinized that membership would be equivalent_to certification to teach the subject .

(Max F. Millikan and Donald L. M. Blackmer,...)

The capacity of intellectuals and members of the new professional classes to contribute creatively to national development is likely to be destroyed by a constraining sense of inferiority toward both their own political class and their colleagues and professional counterparts in the West .

The capacity of intellectuals and members of the new professional classes to contribute creatively to national development is likely to be destroyed by a constraining sense of inferiority toward both their own political class and their colleagues and professional counterparts in the West .

American policy toward such societies should stress our sympathy for the emerging social and professional classes .

Related terms

profession

3
[ adjective ] characteristic of or befitting a profession or one engaged in a profession

Examples

"professional conduct" "professional ethics" "a thoroughly professional performance"

Used in print

(Richard I. McCosh, "Recreation Site Selection"...)

County judges , commissioners , engineers , assessors , and_others who have lived in the area for a long_time may have valuable knowledge regarding the site or opinions to offer from their varied professional experiences .

(Edward Austin Walton, "On Education for the Interior...)

This kind of irresponsibility toward their students can scarcely build a strong professional attitude in the future designer .

We must build a corps of highly professional teachers of interior_design who have had education , experience in the profession and are willing to take_on the usual accompaniments of teaching - minimal income and minimal status among their confreres .

(Frank Getlein and Harold C. Gardiner, S.J., Movies,...)

Melies , however , out of his professional instincts as a magician , discovered and made use of a number of illusionary techniques that remain part of the vocabulary of film .

Related terms

unprofessional expert

4
[ adjective ] of or relating to a profession

Examples

"we need professional advice" "professional training" "professional equipment for his new office"

Used in print

(The Times-Picayune, [New Orleans]...)

But the one that upset the financially wise was the professional dancer who related in a book how he parlayed his earnings into a $ 2000000 profit on the stock_market .

(Robert Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land....)

Check with one of them , go_ahead - there 's no professional jealousy here '' .

(S. J. Perelman, The Rising Gorge. New York:...)

The collective by which I address you in the title above is neither patronizing nor jocose but an exact industrial term in_use among professional thieves .

Related terms

profession

5
[ noun ] (work) a person engaged in one of the learned professions

Used in print

(Christopher Davis, First Family....)

`` Do you suppose his self-consciousness is characteristic of the new Negro professionals or merely of doctors in_general '' ?

(Philip Jos‚ Farmer, The Lovers....)

We have considered several of your professionals because they were lamechians and above suspicion .

6
[ adjective ] engaged in by members of a profession

Examples

"professional occupations include medicine and the law and teaching"

Used in print

("Editorials"...)

The official statistics show that 60 per_cent are employed workers or independent professional people .

Related terms

white-collar

7
[ noun ] (sport,work) an athlete who plays for pay

Synonyms

pro

Used in print

(St. Louis Post-Dispatch,...)

Yes , we know , they 're professionals , men paid to play , and they should n't care how they 're handled , just as_long_as their names are spelled correctly on the first and fifteenth of each_month .

8
[ noun ] an authority qualified to teach apprentices

Synonyms

master

Used in print

(Philip Jos‚ Farmer, The Lovers....)

Her friends and professional associates would sympathize_with her , not because she had lost a beloved husband , but because she had been married to a man who thought unrealistically .

Related terms

authority past_master

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