conic section

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noun Geometry.

a curve formed by the intersection of a plane with a right circular cone; an ellipse, a circle, a parabola, or a hyperbola.

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Also called conic.

Origin of conic section

First recorded in 1655–65

Words nearby conic section

conic, conical pendulum, conicoid, conic projection, conics, conic section, conidiophore, conidium, conifer, coniferin, coniferous

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use conic section in a sentence

A few weeks after returning from England, I was trolling the dairy section and came across the Cotswold Double Gloucester.
Biking With the Bard|Kara Cutruzzula|December 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
His section on why he and his wife split—he essentially chose soccer over her—would be risky if its candor were not so refreshing.
Tim Howard’s Wall of Intensity|William O’Connor|December 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
There is a brutally honest section of the book about how you fell out of love with your wife, and essentially chose soccer.
Tim Howard’s Wall of Intensity|William O’Connor|December 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And then, on one recent morning, the train made a stop at a small station near an especially beautiful section of the river.
Riding Thailand’s WWII Death Railway|Liza Foreman|December 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Manttan is keen to carry out research on that Burmese side of the railway as his father worked on that section.
Riding Thailand’s WWII Death Railway|Liza Foreman|December 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In cross-section the burrows varied from round (three inches in diameter) to oval (three inches high and four inches wide).
Summer Birds From the Yucatan Peninsula|Erwin E. Klaas
He made no further remark as they descended the darker section of the stair, and she could think of nothing to say to him.
Ancestors|Gertrude Atherton
Then he goes out, gits into his Pullman section, blows his punkin whistle and departs.
Alec Lloyd, Cowpuncher|Eleanor Gates
Nearly all the translating words given in this section so far are synthetic.
Assimilative Memory|Marcus Dwight Larrowe (AKA Prof. A. Loisette)
The book is divided into sections, each section being called 'A Reason.'
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.

British Dictionary definitions for conic section

conic section

noun

one of a group of curves formed by the intersection of a plane and a right circular cone. It is either a circle, ellipse, parabola, or hyperbola, depending on the eccentricity, e, which is constant for a particular curve e = 0 for a circle; e <1 for an ellipse; e = 1 for a parabola; e>1 for a hyperbolaOften shortened to: conic

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for conic section

conic section

A curve formed by the intersection of a plane with a cone. Conic sections can appear as circles, ellipses, hyperbolas, or parabolas, depending on the angle of the intersecting plane relative to the cone's base.