How to use focal in a sentence

40 example sentences · adjective, noun

Focal means belonging to, concerning, or located at a focus (definite location). Example: “The contamination was focal.”

Examples of focal by meaning

adjectiveBelonging to, concerning, or located at a focus (definite location).

The contamination was focal.

adjectiveBelonging to, concerning, or located at a focus of attention.

The disturbances at the periphery became a focal concern later in the investigation.

adjectiveLimited to a small area.

The rash was focal.

nounAn object that is used to focus concentration when performing magic.

Choose your focals to blend well with the intention of your magical work or ritual.2000, Sirona Knight, Celtic Traditions: Druids, Faeries, and Wiccan Rituals, page 193
And no witch leaves behind focals.2019, Faith Hunter, Circle of the Moon, page 27
I use focals for aura work sometimes.2022, Tracy Deonn, Bloodmarked

nounThe individual who is the focus of a study or review, when the study or review is based on that individual's...

As this study covered 46 individual play behaviors, I did not have time to statistically analyze each individual behavior against all age intervals, for all three focals.2006, Alison E. Cook, The Ontogeny of Play in Infant Female Bonobos, page 48
Relevancy provides focals motivation to change by making the links clear between their behavior and the success of the organization.2019, Allan H. Church, David W. Bracken, John W. Fleenor, Handbook of Strategic 360 Feedback

nounA representative of a group or class of people within an organizational system.

Attempting to balance priorities across the exploration, science, and aeronautics programs requires constant and complex negotiations betwen the center focals, the projects they represent, and Langley's engineering directorates.2007 Spring, Keith L. Woodman, “Nothing Weak About It: Thriving in a Weak-Matrix Project Environment”, in Ask Magazine, page 47
Consolidate all focals' requirements: To be done by the Operations Manager.2012, Raul Valverde, Information Systems Reengineering for Modern Business Systems., page 251
Providing technical support to regional climate and WSG focals of all operational divisions on water resilience will amplify the larger pool of project officers.2022, Asian Development Bank, Mainstreaming Water Resilience in Asia and the Pacific

nounA sign or similar type of marketing material designed to draw attention to special deals.

Gesturing at the cleanliness of the design, Medill says, “Originally we had 'focals,'“—signs that call out special offers—“but they blocked eyeballs.”2007, David Weinberger, Everything Is Miscellaneous

nounThe central or most important element of something; a focal element.

When using supporting flowers, consider their size and shape in relation to the focals and how the colour supports and enhances them.2022, Celestina Robertson, Cut Flowers: Bloom Gardener's Guide, page 25

More sentences with focal

Each small section of the incoming laser pulse self-focuses into a sharp focal spot at the self-focusing distance.From the entry self-focus
By contrast, unelemental philosophy no longer has as its focal point humanity's relation to the world.2021, David Lorimer, A Quest for Wisdom. From the entry focal point
Improvements in the focal oxygen supply by HBO ameliorated calcific uremic arteriolopathy in high-altitude areas.2015 June 15, Hai-tao Zhu et al., “Hyperbaric oxygen therapy ameliorates acute brain injury after porcine intracerebral hemorrhage at high…. From the entry arteriolopathy
The first fraction, dPCintra, an intrapatch metric, corresponds to the habitat area of a focal patch.2015 August 11, “Wetland Suitability and Connectivity for Trans-Saharan Migratory Waterbirds”, in PLOS ONE, →DOI. From the entry intrapatch
Typical focal lesion of primary sclerosing cholangitis demonstrating “onion skin” concentric fibrosis and chronic periductular inflammation.2014 December 15, Renée M. Marchioni Beery, Haleh Vaziri, Faripour Forouhar, “Primary Biliary Cirrhosis and Primary Sclerosing…. From the entry periductular
In an underbounded focal group, members feel chaotic, disorganized, dissatisfied, and ineffectual.2010, Clayton Alderfer, The Practice of Organizational Diagnosis: Theory and Methods, →ISBN. From the entry underbounded
The localization is variable in focal germinal hypoplasia, athrocytosis, and Sertoli cell vacuolation.1984, Manuel Nistal Martín de Serrano, Testicular and Epididymal Pathology, page 108. From the entry athrocytosis
The issue of federalism or separatism became the focal point of both Canadian and Quebeckian politics.1982, Louis Leo Snyder, Global Mini-Nationalisms: Autonomy or Independence (“Contributions in Political Science”, →ISSN, number 71…. From the entry Quebeckian
The spacious Pao Arts Center in Chinatown has become a focal point of this effort to broaden entertainment options.2026 March 24, Chris Serres, Danny McDonald, Mable Chan, “In Greater Boston’s Asian communities, gambling can build social ties — and fuel…. From the entry arts and crafts
The focal point of onomatophobia is auditory cues or linguistic elements – which can trigger an overwhelming fear response.2024 December 11, Ayesha Ingham Folami, “What Is Onomatophobia?”, in Klarity. From the entry onomatophobia
They point out that the omniperiodicity problem has been a focal point for research into the Game of Life.2023 December 13, “Mathematicians Prove the "Omniperiodicity" of Conway's Game of Life”, in Discover, Waukesha, W.I.: Kalmbach Media…. From the entry omniperiodicity
The results show that despite extremely small focal distances, the scanning ability of metamirrors is similar to that of comparable reflectarrays.2016, Svetlana N. Tcvetkova, Viktar S. Asadchy, Sergei A. Tretyakov, “Scanning characteristics of metamirror antennas with sub-wavelength…. From the entry metamirrors
Focal mucinous differentiation was identified in 5 (11.1%), and 4 (8.9%) had areas of microcystic elongated and fragmented (MELF) pattern.2015 August 8, “Endometrial Endometrioid Carcinoma Metastases Show Decreased ER-Alpha and PR-A Expression Compared to Matched Primary…. From the entry microcystic
Studies that support the hypervigilance theory have largely used electrical stimulation or focal pressure to elicit the judgement of pain threshold.2012, Winston C.V. Parris, Contemporary Issues in Chronic Pain Management, page 138. From the entry hypervigilance
A bad spatial sampling of the field could in this case miss the focal minimum and misinterpolate the field.2009, Christoph M. Michel, Thomas Koenig, Daniel Brandeis, Electrical Neuroimaging, page 80. From the entry misinterpolate
One critical distinction to make is whether a focal corneal infiltrate is infected with bacteria or is a sterile immunologic response.2008, Jimmy D. Bartlett, Siret D. Jaanus, Clinical Ocular Pharmacology, page 539. From the entry infiltrate
One has only to unfog the patient by adding minus sphere to push the focal lines onto the retina (Fig 35).1980, Ophthalmology Basic and Clinical Science Course, 1980-1981. From the entry unfog
The ritual-social drinkfests are the focal point of Tagbanuwa life.1976, Frank M. LeBar, Insular Southeast Asia: Philippines, page 255. From the entry drinkfest
A broad tier of shelves below an expanded metal "pegboard" gives Kline's a focal point for shoe-apparel-accessory fanfaring.1967, Boot and Shoe Recorder: The Magazine of Fashion Footwear. From the entry fanfaring
The height of the eyepoint depends on the focal length of the eyepiece and the position of its upper equivalent plane.1958, Émile Monnin Chamot, Clyde Walter Mason, Handbook of chemical microscopy, page 31. From the entry eyepoint
Such are the three branches of the first power or focal passions, whereof unityism is the trunk or hyperfocus.1907, The American Amateur Photographer and Camera & Dark Room, American Photographic Public Company, page 308. From the entry hyperfocus
The Omtech 60W MOPA is available with autofocus, which automatically sets the correct focal height and eliminates much of the trial and error in setup.2026 August, Logan Wittmer, “Omtech 60W Autofocus MOPA Fiber Laser”, in Popular Woodworking, volume 290, number 4, page 10. From the entry trial and error
X-ray tubes with biangular anode discs are used for dual focus tubes, where there is a need of very small effective focal spot.2020, Slavik Tabakov, Franco Milano, Perry Sprawls, Encyclopaedia of Medical Physics, page 87. From the entry biangular
His portrait and altar faced the dining table, and from then on, the altar would be the focal point of family life.2017, Ari C. Dy, “Introduction”, in Chinese Buddhism in Catholic Philippines: Syncretism as Identity, Anvil Publishing, Inc.. From the entry angkong
In several human neurodegenerative diseases, focal axonal swellings on Purkinje cells – known as torpedoes – have been associated with Purkinje cell loss.2016 November 2, Lovisa Ljungberg, Daneck Lang-Ouellette, Angela Yang, Sriram Jayabal, Sabrina Quilez, Alanna J. Watt, “Transient…. From the entry torpedo
Moreover, a recent study revealed that intracerebroventricular injection of the pharmacological TLR4-NOX4 signal inhibitor resatorvid protects against neuronal death in transient focal ischemia.2016 February 6, “Evaluation of the Therapeutic Potential of Anti-TLR4-Antibody MTS510 in Experimental Stroke and Significance of…. From the entry resatorvid
Noticeboards, discussion forums, chat rooms, livecasts, and blogs function as focal sites where views are exchanged, information imparted, and narratives about epidemics constructed.2016, Robert Peckham, Epidemics in Modern Asia, →ISBN, page 40. From the entry livecast

Meaning of focal

adjective Belonging to, concerning, or located at a focus (definite location).
adjective Belonging to, concerning, or located at a focus of attention.
adjective Limited to a small area.

Full definition of focal

Questions about focal in a sentence

How do you use focal in a sentence?: Focal is used as an adjective and noun. For example: “The contamination was focal.”
What is a short sentence with focal?: “The contamination was focal.”
What does focal mean?: Focal means belonging to, concerning, or located at a focus (definite location).

Adapted from Wiktionary: focal (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use focal in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/focal. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.