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:
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 William Henry Hurlbert
This the roving waves bore over the submerged and now peaty forests, and deposited above them the elements of rocks which were to superpose the coal strata.
From The Underground City, or, the Child of the Cavern by Jules Verne
Now it is the same thing with symmetric spherical triangles; we cannot superpose them.
From The Teaching of Geometry by David Eugene Smith
It will come from one side of this partition to superpose itself on the hydrostatic pressure, which latter must have the same value on both sides.
From The New Physics and Its Evolution by Lucien Poincaré
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
Quantum computers, in contrast, traffic in qubits, which are constructed out of superposed particles that embody numerous states simultaneously.
From Scientific American ● Apr. 20, 2021
This is further supported by the dust lanes superposed on the host nucleus17, 61.
From Nature ● Oct. 15, 2017
Those superposed probabilities can, moreover, rise and fall with time.
From Economist ● Jun. 18, 2015
The insights may be superposed one on the other.
From Three Philosophical Poets Lucretius, Dante, and Goethe by George Santayana
When they do so, the pairs start behaving like a single particle, superposing proclivities and all.
From Economist ● Feb. 23, 2012
Various colors may be obtained by superposing or intimately mixing the colors.
From Artificial Light Its Influence upon Civilization by Matthew Luckiesh
INTERFERENCE.—The crossing or superposing of two sets of electric waves of the same or slightly different lengths which tend to oppose each other.
From The Radio Amateur's Hand Book by A. Frederick (Archie Frederick) Collins
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 Matthew Luckiesh
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.
