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Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



493 words match “CURVE”

TORSION n.
return, to a state of rest after it has been twisted; torsibility. Angle of torsion (of a curve) (Geom.), the indefinitely small angle between two consecutive osculating planes of a curve of double curvature. -- Moment of torsion (Mech.) the moment of a pair of equal and opposite couples which tend to twist a body. -…
TOXODONTA n.
Mammalia found in the South American Tertiary formation. The incisor teeth were long and curved and provided with a persistent pulp. They are supposed to be related both to the rodents and ungulates. Called also Toxodontia.
TRACTRIX n.
A curve such that the part of the tangent between the point of tangency and a given straight line is constant; -- so called because it was conceived as described by the motion of one end of a tangent line as the other end was drawn along the given line.
TRAJECTORY n.
The curve which a body describes in space, as a planet or comet in its orbit, or stone thrown upward obliquely in the air.
TREE n.
nera, intermediate between the true crows and the jays. The tail is long, and the bill is curved and without a tooth. -- Tree dove (Zoöl.) any one of several species of East Indian and Asiatic doves belonging to Macropygia and allied genera. They have long and broad tails, are chiefly arboreal in their habits, and fee…
TRICROTISM n.
That condition of the arterial pulse in which there is a triple beat. The pulse curve obtained in the sphygmographic tracing characteristic of tricrotism shows two secondary crests in addition to the primary.
TRICURVATE a.
Curved in three directions; as, a tricurvate spicule (see Illust. of Spicule).
TRIDENT n.
A curve of third order, having three infinite branches in the direction and a fourth infinite branch in the opposite direction. Trident bat (Zoöl.), an Asiatic rhinolophid bat (Triænops Persicus), having the nose membrane in the shape of a trident.
TRIGONOMETRIC; TRIGONOMETRICAL n.
; performed by the rules of trigonometry. --Trig`o*no*met"ric*al*ly, adv. Trigonometrical curve, a curve one of whose coördinates is a trigonometric function of the other. -- Trigonometrical function. See under Function. -- Trigonometrical lines, lines which are employed in solving the different cases of plane and sp…
TRISKELION; TRISKELE n.
A figure composed of three branches, usually curved, radiating from a center, as the figure composed of three human legs, with bent knees, which has long been used as a badge or symbol of Sicily and of the Isle of Man.
TROCHOID n.
The curve described by any point in a wheel rolling on a line; a cycloid; a roulette; in general, the curve described by any point fixedly connected with a moving curve while the moving curve rolls without slipping on a second fixed curve, the curves all being in one plane. Cycloids, epicycloids, hypocycloids, cardioid…
TRUMPET n.
tary exercises, and of great value in the orchestra. In consists of a long metallic tube, curved (once or twice) into a convenient shape, and ending in a bell. Its scale in the lower octaves is limited to the first natural harmonics; but there are modern trumpets capable, by means of valves or pistons, of producing eve…
TURBINE n.
A water wheel, commonly horizontal, variously constructed, but usually having a series of curved floats or buckets, against which the water acts by its impulse or reaction in flowing either outward from a central chamber, inward from an external casing, or from above downward, etc.; -- also called turbine wheel.…
TURN v.
To bring from beneath to the surface, as in plowing, digging, etc. (c) To give an upward curve to; to tilt; as, to turn up the nose. -- To turn upon, to retort; to throw back; as, to turn the arguments of an opponent upon himself. -- To turn upside down, to confuse by putting things awry; to throw into disorder. Thi…
TURRET DECK n.
tem to stern on the upper deck of a steam cargo vessel having a rounded gunwale and sides curved inward convexly.
TURTLE n.
The curved plate in which the form is held in a type-revolving cylinder press. Alligator turtle, Box turtle, etc. See under Alligator, Box, etc. -- green turtle (Zoöl.), a marine turtle of the genus Chelonia, having usually a smooth greenish or olive-colored shell. It is highly valued for the delicacy of its flesh, wh…
TWISTED a.
Contorted; crooked spirally; subjected to torsion; hence, perverted. Twisted curve (Geom.), a curve of double curvature. See Plane curve, under Curve. -- Twisted surface (Geom.), a surface described by a straight line moving according to any law whatever, yet so that the consecutive positions of the line shall not be…
TYMPANUM n.
A drum-shaped wheel with spirally curved partitions by which water is raised to the axis when the wheel revolves with the lower part of the circumference submerged, -- used for raising water, as for irrigation.
UMBILICUS n.
One of foci of an ellipse, or other curve. [Obs.]
UMBRELLA n.
is black, with a large handsome crest consisting of a mass of soft, glossy blue feathers curved outward at the tips. It also has a cervical plume consisting of a long, cylindrical dermal process covered with soft hairy feathers. Called also dragoon bird. -- Umbrella leaf (Bot.), an American perennial herb (Dyphylleia…
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