acuminate

American  

[uh-kyoo-muh-nit, -neyt, uh-kyoo-muh-neyt] / əˈkju mə nɪt, -ˌneɪt, əˈkju 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
• subacumination
  noun
• subacuminate
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of acuminate

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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

acuminate acuminated

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

Leaves.—Mostly alternate; petioled; deltoid-ovate to ovate-lanceolate; acuminate; three to seven inches long; three-ribbed at base.

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

The parasphenoids are large elements characterized by acuminate cultriform processes and posterolaterally inclined alary processes.

From A Synopsis of Neotropical Hylid Frogs, Genus Osteocephalus by Duellman, William E.

The ordinary form has a narrow spike, with 3–5-flowered spikelets, the glumes merely acute and rigid-cuspidate, or acuminate, or short-awned.

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

This band or stripe varies in width and proportionate length and position in different species; it is slightly elevated, and marked with larger, or small circular discoid, or acuminated eminences.

From Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S. Rattlesnake, Commanded By the Late Captain Owen Stanley, R.N., F.R.S. Etc. During the Years 1846-1850. Including Discoveries and Surveys in New Guinea, the Louisiade Archipelago, Etc. to Which Is Added the Account of Mr. E.B. Kennedy's Expedition for the Exploration of the Cape York Peninsula. By John Macgillivray, F.R.G.S. Naturalist to the Expedition. — Volume 1 by MacGillivray, John

Valves placed rather distant from each other; carina extremely narrow, with the upper part of nearly the same width throughout; terga with the lower part much acuminated; body of animal finely villose.

From A Monograph on the Sub-class Cirripedia With Figures of all the Species. by Darwin, Charles

In the acuminated variety there are marked papillary enlargement, excessive development of the mucous layer, and an abundant vascular supply.

From Essentials of Diseases of the Skin Including the Syphilodermata Arranged in the Form of Questions and Answers Prepared Especially for Students of Medicine by Stelwagon, Henry Weightman

It consists of small or large pea-sized, disseminated or grouped, acuminated or rounded pustules, resembling the lesions of acne and variola.

From Essentials of Diseases of the Skin Including the Syphilodermata Arranged in the Form of Questions and Answers Prepared Especially for Students of Medicine by Stelwagon, Henry Weightman

Bill moderate, generally somewhat longer than the head, slender, curved, pointed and acuminated, the base higher than broad, the sides compressed, the top carinated; upper mandible notched at the tip, the under mandible laterally compressed.

From Zoological Illustrations, Volume I or Original Figures and Descriptions of New, Rare, or Interesting Animals by Swainson, William