PERPENDICULAR

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does perpendicular mean? 

• PERPENDICULAR (noun)
  The noun PERPENDICULAR has 4 senses:

1. a straight line at right angles to another line

2. a Gothic style in 14th and 15th century England; characterized by vertical lines and a four-centered (Tudor) arch and fan vaulting

3. a cord from which a metal weight is suspended pointing directly to the earth's center of gravity; used to determine the vertical from a given point

4. an extremely steep face

  Familiarity information: PERPENDICULAR used as a noun is uncommon.

• PERPENDICULAR (adjective)
  The adjective PERPENDICULAR has 3 senses:

1. intersecting at or forming right angles

2. at right angles to the plane of the horizon or a base line

3. so steep as to be nearly veritcal

  Familiarity information: PERPENDICULAR used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PERPENDICULAR (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A straight line at right angles to another line

Classified under:

Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes

Hypernyms ("perpendicular" is a kind of...):

straight line (a line traced by a point traveling in a constant direction; a line of zero curvature)

Derivation:

perpendicular (intersecting at or forming right angles)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A Gothic style in 14th and 15th century England; characterized by vertical lines and a four-centered (Tudor) arch and fan vaulting

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

English-Gothic; English-Gothic architecture; perpendicular; perpendicular style

Hypernyms ("perpendicular" is a kind of...):

Gothic; Gothic architecture (a style of architecture developed in northern France that spread throughout Europe between the 12th and 16th centuries; characterized by slender vertical piers and counterbalancing buttresses and by vaulting and pointed arches)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "perpendicular"):

Tudor architecture (a style of English-Gothic architecture popular during the Tudor period; characterized by half-timbered houses)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A cord from which a metal weight is suspended pointing directly to the earth's center of gravity; used to determine the vertical from a given point

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

perpendicular; plumb line

Hypernyms ("perpendicular" is a kind of...):

cord (a line made of twisted fibers or threads)

Meronyms (parts of "perpendicular"):

plumb; plumb bob; plummet (the metal bob of a plumb line)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "perpendicular"):

lead line; sounding line ((nautical) plumb line for determining depth)

plumb rule (a plumb line attached to a narrow board)

Sense 4

Meaning:

An extremely steep face

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("perpendicular" is a kind of...):

face (a vertical surface of a building or cliff)

Derivation:

perpendicular (so steep as to be nearly veritcal)

• PERPENDICULAR (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Intersecting at or forming right angles

Context example:

the axes are perpendicular to each other

Similar:

normal (forming a right angle)

orthogonal; rectangular (having a set of mutually perpendicular axes; meeting at right angles)

right (having the axis perpendicular to the base)

Antonym:

oblique (slanting or inclined in direction or course or position--neither parallel nor perpendicular nor right-angled)

parallel (being everywhere equidistant and not intersecting)

Derivation:

perpendicular (a straight line at right angles to another line)

perpendicularity (the quality of being at right angles to a given line or plane (especially the plane of the horizon))

perpendicularity (the relation of opposition between things at right angles)

Sense 2

Meaning:

At right angles to the plane of the horizon or a base line

Synonyms:

perpendicular; vertical

Context example:

measure the perpendicular height

Similar:

plumb (exactly vertical)

upended (turned up on end)

unsloped; upright (in a vertical position; not sloping)

Also:

steep (having a sharp inclination)

straight (having no deviations)

Attribute:

orientation (position or alignment relative to points of the compass or other specific directions)

Derivation:

perpendicularity (the quality of being at right angles to a given line or plane (especially the plane of the horizon))

perpendicularity (the relation of opposition between things at right angles)

Sense 3

Meaning:

So steep as to be nearly veritcal

Context example:

the great perpendicular face of the cliff

Similar:

steep (having a sharp inclination)

Derivation:

perpendicular (an extremely steep face)

 Context examples 

Forming a single Ca2+-binding site in many calcium-binding proteins, the basic EF-Hand Domain consists of a conserved 12-residue loop region between two perpendicular 10-12 residue alpha helices (helix-loop-helix).

(EF-Hand Domain, NCI Thesaurus)

Making this tackle fast, I took to the windlass the shears-tackle (which was connected with the end of the boom), and with a few turns had the mast perpendicular and clear.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

This plane is perpendicular to both the transaxial and sagittal.

(Coronal Plane, NCI Thesaurus)

These slices are perpendicular to vertical long axis views as well as short axis views.

(Horizontal Long Axis of Heart, NCI Thesaurus)

The narrow ears fold back along the head, but rise perpendicular to the head when the dog is alert.

(Italian Greyhound, NCI Thesaurus)

The opposite mountain is a bare perpendicular rock.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Microscopic channels in the compact bone that run perpendicular to the Haversian canals.

(Perforating Canal, NCI Thesaurus)

When oval the nuclei are oriented perpendicular to the basement membrane.

(Mouse Pancreatic Intraepithelial Neoplasia-1A, NCI Thesaurus/MMHCC)

A surface formed by circles of a given radius that are contained in a plane perpendicular to a given axis, whose centers align on the axis.

(Cylinder, NCI Thesaurus)

The extent downward or inward; the perpendicular measurement from the surface downward to determine deepness.

(Depth, NCI Thesaurus)