horizontal
[hawr-uh-zon-tl, hor-]
- at right angles to the vertical; parallel to level ground.
- flat or level: a horizontal position.
- being in a prone or supine position; recumbent: His bad back has kept him horizontal for a week.
- near, on, or parallel to the horizon.
- of or relating to the horizon.
- measured or contained in a plane parallel to the horizon: a horizontal distance.
- (of material on a printed page, pieces on a game board, etc.) extending across, from the left to the right of the viewer.
- of or relating to a position or individual of similar status: He received a horizontal promotion to a different department, retaining his old salary and title.
- Economics. of or relating to companies, affiliates, divisions, etc., that perform the same or similar functions or produce the same or similar products: Through horizontal mergers the company monopolized its field.
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- anything horizontal, as a plane, direction, or object.
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Origin of horizontal
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for horizontal
Contemporary Examples
Like countless other boys in Massapequa, he had a crew cut and wore Keds sneakers and T-shirts with horizontal stripes.
Name some aspect of the horizontal polka and it has probably been discussed endlessly among human beings with two X chromosomes.
You see, the spine is a row of vertebrae that was designed to be horizontal.
Much of the love scene is composed of medium shots, with the camera focused on the two horizontal bodies writhing on a bed.
Inside ‘Blue is the Warmest Color’ And The Year’s Most Controversial Sex SceneMarlow Stern
October 25, 2013
These fringe bands were also strung in horizontal form across a cotton-knit silk dress, as if suspended on a weaving loom.
Historical Examples
And bit by bit—how we don't know—the horizontal zigzag is accomplished.
The Roof of FranceMatilda Betham-Edwards
Then come the struts, the main pieces which join the horizontal beams.
Flying MachinesW.J. Jackman and Thos. H. Russell
This consists of two sections, one horizontal, the other vertical.
Flying MachinesW.J. Jackman and Thos. H. Russell
Then he remounted and gripped the pipe in the middle of its horizontal section.
Keziah CoffinJoseph C. Lincoln
Tree of slow growth, with horizontal, yellowish-barked branches.
Trees of the Northern United StatesAustin C. Apgar
horizontal
- parallel to the plane of the horizon; level; flatCompare vertical (def. 1)
- of or relating to the horizon
- measured or contained in a plane parallel to that of the horizon
- applied uniformly or equally to all members of a group
- economics relating to identical stages of commercial activityhorizontal integration
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- a horizontal plane, position, line, etc
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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
Word Origin and History for horizontal
adj.
1550s, "relating to or near the horizon," from French horizontal, from Latin horizontem (see horizon). Meaning "flat" (i.e., "parallel to the horizon") is from 1630s. Related: horizontally.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper