acuminate

American  

[uh-kyoo-muh-nit, -neyt, uh-kyoo-muh-neyt] / əˈkyu mə nɪt, -ˌneɪt, əˈkyu məˌneɪt /

adjective

1. Botany, Zoology. pointed; tapering to a point.

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verb (used with object)

acuminated, acuminating

1. to make sharp or keen.

acuminate British  

adjective

1. narrowing to a sharp point, as some types of leaf

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verb

1. (tr) to make pointed or sharp

Other Word Forms

• acumination noun
• subacuminate adjective
• subacumination noun

Etymology

Origin of acuminate

1595–1605; < Latin acūminātus (past participle of acūmināre ), equivalent to acūmin- (stem of acūmen ) acumen + -ātus -ate ¹

Example Sentences

Another species in crisis is the acuminate crayfish, which is unique to Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, experts said, and found largely in the Anacostia watershed.

From Washington Post • Oct. 22, 2021

A series of fortunate events brought me to a floor somewhere in the mid-twenties of London’s most acuminate skyscraper, the 72-storey, 306-metre Shard.

From The Guardian • Jun. 9, 2014

Annual, prostrate or usually erect, 1–2° high, branched; leaves narrow at base, ½–2´ long, acute; floral bracts acuminate, on slender branchlets; sepals very thick; anthers exserted; seed horizontal, round-oval, black, ½´´ broad.

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Gray, Asa

Leaflets.—Seven to nine; glossy; ovate to oblong-lanceolate; one and one half to four inches long; acuminate; sinuately dentate, with numerous spinose teeth; the lowest pair distant from the stem.

From The Wild Flowers of California: Their Names, Haunts, and Habits by Parsons, Mary Elizabeth

Involucre.—Of several series of imbricated, ovate, acuminate scales.

From The Wild Flowers of California: Their Names, Haunts, and Habits by Parsons, Mary Elizabeth