linkage

A connection between things, people, or ideas.

• There is a clear linkage between poverty and poor health.
• The report explores linkages between education and employment.
• They questioned the linkage of trade policy to human rights.

How to use it: linkage between A and B (The study found a linkage between stress and poor sleep.); linkage of A to B (They opposed the linkage of aid to political support.)

Similar words: connection, link, relationship

Common phrases: linkage between things, direct linkage, political linkage

A set of moving parts that joins parts of a machine and passes movement between them.

• The steering linkage is broken.
• A mechanic replaced the linkage between the pedal and the brake.
• These linkages let the machine move smoothly.

Similar words: connecting mechanism

Common phrases: steering linkage, gear linkage, mechanical linkage

The process of joining separate pieces of computer code into one program or library.

• The build failed during linkage.
• Static linkage includes the required library code in the program.
• A missing symbol caused a linkage error.

Similar words: linking

Common phrases: static linkage, dynamic linkage, linkage error

The tendency of genes close together on a chromosome to pass from parent to child together.

• These genes show strong linkage.
• Genetic linkage can help researchers locate a gene.
• The team used linkage analysis to study the inherited condition.

Common phrases: genetic linkage, gene linkage, linkage analysis