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rt of the circumference of a great circle; or the point in which a diameter of the sphere perpendicular to the plane of such circle meets the surface. Such a point is called the pole of that circle; as, the pole of the horizon; the pole of the ecliptic; the pole of a given meridian.

A headlong steep; a very steep, perpendicular, or overhanging place; an abrupt declivity; a cliff. Where wealth like fruit on precipices grew. Dryden.

reast of another. Pesent arms (Mil.), the command in response to which the gun is carried perpendicularly in front of the center of the body, and held there with the left hand grasping it at the lower band, and the right hand grasping the small of the stock, in token of respect, as in saluting a superior officer; also,…

each of which is at right angles to the other two, and bisects all chords of the quadric perpendicular to the plane, as in an ellipsoid. -- Principal point (Persp.), the projection of the point of sight upon the plane of projection. -- Principal ray (Persp.), the line drawn through the point of sight perpendicular t…

Anything which is required to be done; as, in geometry, to bisect a line, to draw a perpendicular; or, in algebra, to find an unknown quantity.

smuted into gold. -- Projection of a point on a plane (Descriptive Geom.), the foot of a perpendicular to the plane drawn through the point. -- Projection of a straight line of a plane, the straight line of the plane connecting the feet of the perpendiculars let fall from the extremities of the given line.…

s are placed in the form of a triangle at spot. [Eng.] Altitude of a pyramid (Geom.), the perpendicular distance from the vertex to the plane of the base. -- Axis of a pyramid (Geom.), a straight line drawn from the vertex to the center of the base. -- Earth pyramid. (Geol.) See Earth pillars, under Earth. -- Right…

To inclination of anything from a perpendicular direction; as, the rake of a roof, a staircase, etc.; especially (Naut.,

Bending or curving gradually back from the perpendicular.

angle which anything, as a ray of light, on leaving a reflecting surface, makes with the perpendicular to the surface. -- Angle of total reflection. (Opt.) Same as Critical angle, under Critical.

previously moved. Refraction out of the rarer medium into the denser, is made towards the perpendicular. Sir I. Newton.

ght angles, so as to form a right angle or right angles, as when one line crosses another perpendicularly. -- Right and left, in both or all directions. [Colloq.] -- Right and left coupling (Pipe fitting), a coupling the opposite ends of which are tapped for a right-handed screw and a left-handed screw, respectivelly.…

ch, associated with certain diseases. The individual organisms undergo division along two perpendicular partitions, so that multiplication takes place in two directions, giving groups of four cubical cells. Also used adjectively; as, a sarcina micrococcus; a sarcina group. Sarcina form (Biol.), the tetrad form seen in…

To cut down perpendicularly, or nearly so; as, to scarp the face of a ditch or a rock. From scarped cliff and quarried stone. Tennyson. Sweep ruins from the scarped mountain. Emerson.

stron.), a great circle passes through the poles of another great circle and is therefore perpendicular to its plane. -- Secondary circuit, Secondary coil (Elec.), a circuit or coil in which a current is produced by the induction of a current in a neighboring circuit or coil called the primary circuit or coil. -- Sec…

A well-like excavation in the earth, perpendicular or nearly so, made for reaching and raising ore, for raising water, etc.

f an elastic body, consisting of an extension in one direction, an equal compression in a perpendicular direction, with an unchanged magnitude in the third direction. Shear blade, one of the blades of shears or a shearing machine. -- Shear hulk. See under Hulk. -- Shear steel, a steel suitable for shears, scythes, an…

The length of a perpendicular drawn from one extremity of an arc of a circle to the diameter drawn through the other extremity.

Inclined from a direct line, whether horizontal or perpendicular; sloping; oblique. "The slant lightning." Milton.

The short perpendicular line added to the body of a note; the tail of a crotchet, quaver, semiquaver, etc.