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Having a curved outline or form; especially, one like the arc of a circle or an ellipse, or a portion of the surface of a sphere; rotund; bulging; protuberant; not angular or pointed; as, a round arch; round hills. "Their round haunches gored." Shak.

Having the outline of the upper part concave like the seat of a saddle.

Anything saddle-backed; esp., a hill or ridge having a concave outline at the top.

A rough draught; a rude sketch or outline.

An outline or image universally applicable to a general conception, under which it is likely to be presented to the mind; as, five dots in a line are a schema of the number five; a preceding and succeeding event are a schema of cause and effect.

Particular form or disposition of a thing; an exhibition in outline of any systematic arrangement. [R.]

Any lineal or mathematical diagram; an outline. To draw an exact scheme of Constantinople, or a map of France. South.

Having vague outlines, and colors and shades so mingled as to give a misty appearance; -- said of a painting.

That which shapes; a machine for giving a particular form or outline to an object. Specifically;

A theory proposed by Ehrlich as a chemical explanation of immunity phenomena. In brief outline it is as follows: Animal cells and bacteria are complex aggregations of molecules, which are themselves complex. Complex molecules react with one another through certain of their side chains, but only when these side chains h…

A ridge of mountain and craggy rocks, with a serrated or irregular outline; as, the Sierra Nevada. The wild sierra overhead. Whitter.

A representation of the outlines of an object filled in with a black color; a profile portrait in black, such as a shadow appears to be.

The heads and outline of a literary production, especially of a sermon.

An outline or general delineation of anything; a first rough or incomplete draught or plan of any design; especially, in the fine arts, such a representation of an object or scene as serves the artist's purpose by recording its chief features; also, a preliminary study for an original work.

Containing only an outline or rough form; being in the manner of a sketch; incomplete. The execution is sketchy throughout; the head, in particular, is left in the rough. J. S. Harford.

an be perceived by the touch; not rough; as, smooth glass; smooth porcelain. Chaucer. The outlines must be smooth, imperceptible to the touch, and even, without eminence or cavities. Dryden.

A spiral cam, or a flat piece of metal of spirally curved outline, used for giving motion to, or changing the position of, another part, as the hammer tail of a striking clock.

Having, or consisting of, a gentle curve or curves; not angular or abrupt; as, soft outlines.

Having a shape broad for the height, with rectilineal and angular rather than curving outlines; as, a man of a square frame.

king them on a sheet superimposed, through which they appear; as, to trace a figure or an outline; a traced drawing. Some faintly traced features or outline of the mother and the child, slowly lading into the twilight of the woods. Hawthorne.