STRAIGHT LINE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does straight line mean? 

• STRAIGHT LINE (noun)
  The noun STRAIGHT LINE has 1 sense:

1. a line traced by a point traveling in a constant direction; a line of zero curvature

  Familiarity information: STRAIGHT LINE used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• STRAIGHT LINE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A line traced by a point traveling in a constant direction; a line of zero curvature

Classified under:

Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes

Context example:

the shortest distance between two points is a straight line

Hypernyms ("straight line" is a kind of...):

line (a length (straight or curved) without breadth or thickness; the trace of a moving point)

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

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

asymptote (a straight line that is the limiting value of a curve; can be considered as tangent at infinity)

tangent (a straight line or plane that touches a curve or curved surface at a point but does not intersect it at that point)

secant (a straight line that intersects a curve at two or more points)

radius (a straight line from the center to the perimeter of a circle (or from the center to the surface of a sphere))

diameter (a straight line connecting the center of a circle with two points on its perimeter (or the center of a sphere with two points on its surface))

chord (a straight line connecting two points on a curve)

element (a straight line that generates a cylinder or cone)

bias; diagonal (a line or cut across a fabric that is not at right angles to a side of the fabric)

diagonal ((geometry) a straight line connecting any two vertices of a polygon that are not adjacent)

vector (a straight line segment whose length is magnitude and whose orientation in space is direction)

Antonym:

curve (the trace of a point whose direction of motion changes)

 Context examples 

The length of a straight line that extends from one edge of a tumor or other object, through its center and to the opposite edge.

(Diameter, NCI Dictionary)

The length of a straight line passing through the center of the inner open space or cavity of a tubular organ and connecting two points on the circumference.

(Lumen Diameter, Food and Drug Administration)

A straight line through a body or figure that satisfies certain conditions.

(Axis, NCI Thesaurus)

A straight line through one of two small cylindrical cell organelles composed of 9 triplet microtubules.

(Axis of the Centriole, NCI Thesaurus)

It was impossible for him anywhere to traverse the room in a straight line.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

A straight line through a body or figure that is at a right angle to a given line or plane.

(Perpendicular Axis, NCI Thesaurus)

The attendant told me the patient had gone to the left, and had taken a straight line, so I ran as quickly as I could.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

The length of a straight line passing through the center of a circle or sphere and connecting two points on the circumference.

(Diameter, NCI Thesaurus)

The longest possible straight line or plane through a body or figure that is at a right angle to a given line or plane.

(Longest Perpendicular, NCI Thesaurus)

The longest possible length of a straight line passing through the center of a circular or spheroid object that connects two points on the circumference.

(Longest Diameter, NCI Thesaurus)