orderingvariable
nounUK /ˈɔː.də.rɪŋ ˈveə.ri.ə.bəl/
US /ˈɔːr.dɚ.ɪŋ ˈver.i.ə.bəl/
A thing that can change and helps decide the order of things.
The teacher used an ordering variable to sort the students by height.
OTHER MEANINGS
2. In math, a number or value that decides the position of items in a list.
The ordering variable placed the smallest number first.
3. In computer coding, a setting that tells the program how to arrange data.
The programmer changed the ordering variable to sort names alphabetically.
4. A changing factor used to put events in the right time order.
The ordering variable helped arrange the story events from first to last.