cusp

[ kuhsp ]

/ kʌsp /

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noun

a point or pointed end.

Anatomy, Zoology, Botany. a point, projection, or elevation, as on the crown of a tooth.

Also called spinode. Geometry. a point where two branches of a curve meet, end, and are tangent.

Architecture. a decorative device, used especially in Gothic architecture to vary the outlines of intradoses or to form architectural foils, consisting of a pair of curves tangent to the real or imaginary line defining the area decorated and meeting at a point within the area.

Astronomy. a point of a crescent, especially of the moon.

Astrology.

the zodiacal degree that marks the beginning of a house or a sign.
Informal. a person born on the first day of a sign.

a point that marks the beginning of a change: on the cusp of a new era.

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Origin of cusp

First recorded in 1575–85, cusp is from the Latin word cuspis a point

OTHER WORDS FROM cusp

cuspal, adjective

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

How to use cusp in a sentence

In between, the soil was all harrowed and upturned into great cusps as though many swine had been rooting there for mast.
The Glory of The Coming|Irvin S. Cobb
The recesses on the sides of the other cusps indicate their single or double lines of foliation.
The Stones of Venice, Volume III (of 3)|John Ruskin
Neither this number of cusps, nor its absolute dimensions, confer distinction upon the tooth.
Prehistoric Man|W. L. H. Duckworth
Above this is a large circular window, with sixteen small cusps and a small pierced quatrefoil on either side.
Some Account of Gothic Architecture in Spain|George Edmund Street

The arcades are all cusped in the usual Moorish fashion, the outline of the cusps being horseshoe, but without an enclosing arch.
Some Account of Gothic Architecture in Spain|George Edmund Street

British Dictionary definitions for cusp

cusp

/ (kʌsp) /

noun

any of the small elevations on the grinding or chewing surface of a tooth

any of the triangular flaps of a heart valve

a point or pointed end

Also called: spinode geometry a point at which two arcs of a curve intersect and at which the two tangents are coincident

architect a carving at the meeting place of two arcs

astronomy either of the points of a crescent moon or of a satellite or inferior planet in a similar phase

astrology any division between houses or signs of the zodiac

Word Origin for cusp

C16: from Latin cuspis point, pointed end

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

cusp

Origin of cusp

OTHER WORDS FROM cusp

Words related to cusp

How to use cusp in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for cusp

Word Origin for cusp