context-free grammar
nounUK /ˌkɒntɛkst ˈfriː ˈɡræmə/
US /ˌkɑːntɛkst ˈfriː ˈɡræmər/
A set of rules that shows how to build sentences in a language without needing to know the situation.
The teacher used a context-free grammar to show how words can be put together into sentences.
OTHER MEANINGS
2. In computer science, a way to describe the structure of programming languages so computers can understand code.
The compiler uses a context-free grammar to check whether the program is written correctly.
3. A grammar where each rule replaces one symbol with a string of symbols, regardless of surrounding symbols.
The linguist wrote a context-free grammar to model how noun phrases are formed.
4. A model used in natural language processing to break sentences into tree-like structures.
The parser built a syntax tree from the context-free grammar.