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.
Show More
- anything horizontal, as a plane, direction, or object.
Show More
Origin of horizontal
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
diagonally, horizontally, vertically, crossways, angular, athwart, awry, crisscross, cross, crossing, over, perpendicular, sideways, thwart, transverse, traverse, transversal, aslant, contrariwise, longwaysExamples from the Web for horizontally
Contemporary Examples
Faulkner, Whitman, and Dickinson did not labor in vain; their books live on, horizontally, stacked like bricks in a display case.
Johns took the original source and mirrored it horizontally, creating a large missing void in the center of the work.
Thigh-high leather boots… Gucci ostrich skin leather jackets… Horizontally striped posing briefs… More leather jackets...
According to one publicist, the answer lies in branching out into a "horizontally integrated economic model."
She was walking down the stairs of East High School in a pair of horizontally striped bell bottoms.
Historical Examples
In carving a round of beef, slice it horizontally and very thin.
Directions for Cookery, in its Various BranchesEliza Leslie
Now take these bits and weave them horizontally into a thick mass.
Greener Than You ThinkWard Moore
This they tow to the spot, and sink it horizontally with mud and stones.
The Western WorldW.H.G. Kingston
There are two paladins who can be cut in half, one horizontally and other perpendicularly.
Diversions in SicilyH. Festing Jones
Disposed after the manner of a Bar,—crossing 105 the field, that is, horizontally.
The Handbook to English HeraldryCharles Boutell
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
Show More
- a horizontal plane, position, line, etc
Show More
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 horizontally
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.
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper