Search the Dictionary

sured by the angle which it subtends at the eye of the observer; - - called also apparent diameter. -- Magnitude of a star (Astron.), the rank of a star with respect to brightness. About twenty very bright stars are said to be of first magnitude, the stars of the sixth magnitude being just visible to the naked eye. Te…

he solar system, the fourth in order from the sun, or the next beyond the earth, having a diameter of about 4,200 miles, a period of 687 days, and a mean distance of 141,000,000 miles. It is conspicuous for the redness of its light.

andard measure; as, cloth measures three fourths of a yard; a tree measures three feet in diameter.

n angle of a triangle to the middle of the opposite side; any line having the nature of a diameter. -- Median plane (Anat.), the mesial plane. -- Median point (Geom.), the point where the three median lines of a triangle mutually intersect.

A large, flattened corpuscle, twice the diameter of the ordinary red corpuscle, found in considerable numbers in the blood in profound anæmia.

n, from which its mean distance is about 36,000,000 miles. Its period is 88 days, and its diameter 3,000 miles.

ent, used with a telescope or microscope, for measuring minute distances, or the apparent diameters of objects which subtend minute angles. The measurement given directly is that of the image of the object formed at the focus of the object glass. Circular, or Ring, micrometer, a metallic ring fixed in the focus of the…

amount of water flowing under a given pressure in a given time through a hole one inch in diameter. It is a unit for measuring the quantity of water supplied.

re with an arm adjustable to any angle. -- Miter wheels, a pair of bevel gears, of equal diameter, adapted for working together, usually with their axes at right angles.

The size of some one part, as the diameter of semi-diameter of the base of a shaft, taken as a unit of measure by which the proportions of the other parts of the composition are regulated. Generally, for columns, the semi-diameter is taken, and divided into a certain number of parts, called minutes (see Minute), though…

from the sun, is reflected to the earth, and serves to dispel the darkness of night. The diameter of the moon is 2,160 miles, its mean distance from the earth is 240,000 miles, and its mass is one eightieth that of the earth. See Lunar month, under Month. The crescent moon, the diadem of night. Cowper.…

Having a cylindrical body with a convex head of larger diameter; having a head like that of a mushroom.

To reduce the diameter of (an object) near its end, by making a groove around it; -- used with down; as, to neck down a shaft. v. t. & i. To kiss and caress amorously. n. necking

Set over against each other, but separated by the whole diameter of the stem, as two leaves at the same node.

Placed at the same node with a leaf, but separated from it by the whole diameter of the stem; as, an oppositifolious peduncle.

the form of an egg; having a figure such that any section in the direction of the shorter diameter will be circular, and any in the direction of the longer diameter will be oval.

om side to side; across; crosswise; as, a board, or a tree, a foot over, i. e., a foot in diameter.

Specifically (Conic Sections), in the ellipse and hyperbola, a third proportional to any diameter and its conjugate, or in the parabola, to any abscissa and the corresponding ordinate.

A double-lens instrument for measuring slight variations of the sun's diameter by photography, utilizing the common chord of two overlapping images.

e distance which bears the same relation to the pitch proper, or circular pitch, that the diameter of a circle bears to its circumference; it is sometimes described by the number expressing the quotient obtained by dividing the number of teeth in a wheel by the diameter of its pitch circle in inches; as, 4 pitch, 8 pit…