tetrahedron

American  

[te-truh-hee-druhn] / ˌtɛ trəˈhi drən /

noun

plural

tetrahedrons, tetrahedra

1. Geometry. a solid contained by four plane faces; a triangular pyramid.

2. any of various objects resembling a tetrahedron in the distribution of its faces or apexes.

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tetrahedron British  

/ ˌtɛtrəˈhiːdrən /

noun

1. a solid figure having four plane faces. A regular tetrahedron has faces that are equilateral triangles See also polyhedron

2. any object shaped like a tetrahedron

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tetrahedron Scientific  

/ tĕt′rə-hē′drən /

plural

tetrahedrons

1. A polyhedron having four faces.

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Other Word Forms

• tetrahedral adjective
• tetrahedrally adverb

Etymology

Origin of tetrahedron

1560–70; tetra- + -hedron, modeled on Late Greek tetráedron, noun use of neuter of tetráedros four-sided

Example Sentences

One part copper, two parts vanadium and four parts sulfur, the alloy features a 3D pyrochlore lattice consisting of corner-sharing tetrahedra.

From Science Daily

For example, a tetrahedron, a solid three-dimensional pyramid with four triangular faces, would fill in a group of four neurons firing together.

From Scientific American

Off the shores of Long Beach, where sails could catch wind, a white fleet clustered around orange buoys shaped like tetrahedrons.

From Los Angeles Times

It’s actually a tetrahedron from which all kinds of creative characters pop forth.

From New York Times

Bell and his team, called the Aerial Experiment Association, ultimately focused their kite designs on tetrahedrons, or pyramids made of four triangles, and biplane structures, several of which used red silk.

From Scientific American