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lanceolate

American  
[lan-see-uh-leyt, -lit] / ˈlæn si əˌleɪt, -lɪt /

adjective

  1. shaped like the head of a lance.

  2. narrow, and tapering toward the apex or sometimes at the base, as a leaf.


lanceolate British  
/ -lɪt, ˈlɑːnsɪəˌleɪt /

adjective

  1. narrow and tapering to a point at each end

    lanceolate leaves

"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

lanceolate Scientific  
/ lănsē-ə-lāt′ /
  1. Tapering from a rounded base toward an apex; lance-shaped. Many willows have lanceolate leaves.


Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Etymology

Origin of lanceolate

1750–60; < Latin lanceolātus armed with a small lance, equivalent to lanceol ( a ) small lance ( lance ( a ) lance 1 + -ola -ole 1 ) + -ātus -ate 1

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.

The ears are far narrower than those of living rhinos – they’ve even been described as lanceolate in form.

From Scientific American • Nov. 9, 2013

Scales of the bell-shaped involucre lanceolate, equal, somewhat in 2 rows.

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Gray, Asa

Very leafy, 6–9° high; leaves lanceolate or the upper linear, serrate, white-tomentose beneath, green above; heads greenish, oblong, 2´´ long or less.—Ill. to Dak.

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Gray, Asa

Involucre simple, of several erect lanceolate attenuate equal scales.

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Gray, Asa

Perennial; leaves short, narrowly lanceolate, downy and roughish; flowers solitary; bracts ovate, half as long as the tube; petals rose-color or white, toothed.—Mich.,

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Gray, Asa

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