circular error
Americannoun
-
Horology. loss of isochronism in a pendulum moving through circular arcs of different sizes: sometimes avoided by causing the pendulum to move through cycloidal arcs.
-
Military. error measured as the distance from the center of a target to the point of impact of a bomb or shell, or to the ground zero of an aerial burst.
Etymology
Origin of circular error
First recorded in 1880–85
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.
A strike is considered accurate if it lands within a "circular error probable," usually 10 meters around the object being targeted.
From Salon • Apr. 15, 2022
The system will double the accuracy, or halve the "circular error probability," of each of the 1,650 Minuteman warheads.
From Time Magazine Archive
The balance escapement, even when adapted to a pendulum, necessitated a swing of some 20�, and hence the circular error, that is to say, the deviation of the path from a true cycloid, was considerable.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 5 "Clervaux" to "Cockade" by Various
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.
