SEMICIRCULAR

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does semicircular mean? 

• SEMICIRCULAR (adjective)
  The adjective SEMICIRCULAR has 1 sense:

1. curved into a half circle

  Familiarity information: SEMICIRCULAR used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SEMICIRCULAR (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Curved into a half circle

Similar:

curved; curving (having or marked by a curve or smoothly rounded bend)

Derivation:

semicircle (a plane figure with the shape of half a circle)

 Context examples 

A bone structure within the semicircular canal of the inner ear.

(Common Bony Limb, NCI Thesaurus)

A sensory receptor of the ear located in the membranous ampulla of the semicircular duct.

(Ampullary Crest, NCI Thesaurus)

The portion of the ear located within the temporal bone that is involved in both hearing and balance and includes the semicircular canals, vestibule, and cochlea.

(Inner Ear, NCI Thesaurus)

A semicircular meniscus located towards the inner aspect of the knee joint.

(Meniscus Medialis, NCI Thesaurus)

A semicircular meniscus located towards the outer aspect of the knee joint.

(Meniscus Lateralis, NCI Thesaurus)

A semicircular groove or fissure separating the insula from the opercula.

(Circular Sulcus, NCI Thesaurus)

At the further end of the village, and tolerably disengaged from the rest of it, stood the parsonage, a new-built substantial stone house, with its semicircular sweep and green gates; and, as they drove up to the door, Henry, with the friends of his solitude, a large Newfoundland puppy and two or three terriers, was ready to receive and make much of them.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

The organ of hearing: composed of the external ear, which includes the auricle and the external acoustic, or auditory, meatus; the middle ear, or the tympanic cavity with its ossicles; and the internal ear or inner ear, or labyrinth, which includes the semicircular canals, vestibule, and cochlea.

(Murine Ear, NCI Thesaurus)