[gen.er.a.tion] n (14c) 1 a: a body of living beings constituting a single step in the line of descent from an ancestor b: a group of individuals born and living contemporaneously c: a group of individuals having contemporaneously a status (as that of students in a school) which each one holds only for a limited period d: a type or class of objects usu. developed from an earlier type "first of the ... new ~ of powerful supersonic fighters --Kenneth Koyen"
2. a: the action or process of producing offspring: procreation b: the process of coming or bringing into being "~ of income" c: origination by a generating process: production; esp: formation of a geometric figure by motion of another
3: the average span of time between the birth of parents and that of their offspring -- gen.er.a.tion.al adj -- gen.er.a.tion.al.ly adv