1the action or fact of carefully choosing someone or something as being the best or most suitable:such men decided the selection of candidatessome local Tories objected to his selection
[count noun] a number of carefully chosen things:the publication of a selection of his poems
[count noun] a range of things from which a choice may be made:the restaurant offers a wide selection of hot and cold dishes
[count noun] a horse or horses tipped as worth bets in a race or meeting:I make Dayflower the selection for the Irish 1000 Guineas
[count noun] data highlighted on a computer screen for a particular operation:your selection may not contain two different data types
2 Biology a process in which environmental or genetic influences determine which types of organism thrive better than others, regarded as a factor in evolution:there has been more than enough time for selection to generate specific DNA sequences of the required lengthSee also natural selection.
3Australian/NZ historical the action of choosing and acquiring plots of land for small farming on terms favourable to the buyer:blocks ranging in area from 158 to 3,102 acres have been thrown open for selection
[count noun] a plot of land acquired by selection.
