comprehensive Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun an intensive examination testing a student's proficiency in some special field of knowledge
comp; comprehensive examination.
- she took her comps in English literature
adjective including all or everything
- comprehensive coverage
- a comprehensive history of the revolution
- a comprehensive survey
- a comprehensive education
adjective satellite broad in scope
- a comprehensive survey of world affairs

Cf. F. compréhensif.

Including much; comprising many things; having a wide scope or a full view.
A very comprehensive definition. Bentley.

Large and comprehensive idea. Channing.
Having the power to comprehend or understand many things. "His comprehensive head." Pope.
(Zoöl.) Possessing peculiarities that are characteristic of several diverse groups. ✍ The term is applied chiefly to early fossil groups which have a combination of structures that appear in more fully developed or specialized forms in later groups. Synthetic, as used by Agssiz, is nearly synonymous. Syn. -- Extensive; wide; large; full; compendious.