superpose
Americanverb (used with object)
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to place above or upon something else, or one upon another.
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Geometry. to place (one figure) in the space occupied by another, so that the two figures coincide throughout their whole extent.
verb
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geometry to transpose (the coordinates of one geometric figure) to coincide with those of another
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a rare word for superimpose
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of superpose
From the French word superposer, dating back to 1815–25. See super-, pose 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In a general way, measuring is a wholly human operation, which implies that we really or ideally superpose two objects one on another a certain number of times.
From Creative Evolution by Mitchell, Arthur
What has been accomplished is to superpose upon the ancient organic France another arbitrary and administrative France.
From France and the Republic A Record of Things Seen and Learned in the French Provinces During the 'Centennial' Year 1889 by Hurlbert, William Henry
But if we superpose the pure spectral colours on a screen, the resulting colours are quite 729 different.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 6 "Cockaigne" to "Columbus, Christopher" by Various
On this new ground philosophy ought then to follow science, in order to superpose on scientific truth a knowledge of another kind, which may be called metaphysical.
From Creative Evolution by Mitchell, Arthur
On restoring the wire to its original place, it will be extremely flexible, and we may now superpose several contrary polarities under contrary torsions, as already described.
From Scientific American Supplement, No. 392, July 7, 1883 by Various
Like entanglement, the superposed states essential to its power are fragile, collapsing when measured or otherwise perturbed by the outside world.
From Science Magazine ● Jun. 3, 2021
This is further supported by the dust lanes superposed on the host nucleus17, 61.
From Nature ● Oct. 15, 2017
Such a device would be able to carry out many calculations in parallel, with each of the superposed states acting as part of the calculation.
From Economist ● Oct. 11, 2012
Researchers have proposed and demonstrated several technologies exploiting entangled and superposed quantum states, such as .
From Scientific American ● Oct. 9, 2012
In other words, they are not superposed, as in the human species, but juxtaposed.
From Artistic Anatomy of Animals by Cuyer, ?douard
When they do so, the pairs start behaving like a single particle, superposing proclivities and all.
From Economist ● Feb. 23, 2012
It is precisely by comparing, arranging and superposing these mind-images that we get our general notions or concepts.
From The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: the Book of the Spiritual Man by Johnston, Charles
On superposing all these curves, a satisfactory agreement was found to exist between them.
From Six Lectures on Light Delivered In The United States In 1872-1873 by Tyndall, John
The height of fall was measured by superposing the hole in the moving screen upon that in the fixed one.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 3 "Chitral" to "Cincinnati" by Various
A similar result is found on superposing a blue filter upon the purple one.
From Visual Illusions Their Causes, Characteristics and Applications by Luckiesh, Matthew
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
