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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  
/ ˈlɑːnsɪəˌleɪt, -lɪt /

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

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.

See Examples For:

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

Similar but densely villous-pubescent, and the leaves lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate.—E.

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 Asa Gray

Stem 2–5° high; leaves simply pinnate, with 3–9 linear to lanceolate entire or remotely toothed leaflets; oil-tubes mostly small.

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 Asa Gray

D. Caròta, L. Biennial; stem bristly; ultimate leaf-segments lanceolate and cuspidate; rays numerous.—Naturalized everywhere, from Eu.

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 Asa Gray

Perennial, erect, slightly downy below, viscid above; leaves narrowly lanceolate; flowers in loose panicles; calyx short, glabrous; petals red, 4-lobed, lobes linear.—Moist or marshy places; New Eng. and N. Y.

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 Asa Gray

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