having the general form, shape, or outline of an egg; egg-shaped.
ellipsoidal or elliptical.
an object of oval shape.
a body or plane figure that is oval in shape or outline.
an elliptical field or a field on which an elliptical track is laid out, as for athletic contests.
Informal. a football.
1560–70; < New Latin ōvālis, equivalent to Latin ōv ( um ) egg 1 + -ālis -al 1
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Harris not only excels on the oval, but also on the gridiron.
From Los Angeles Times • May 30, 2026
That’s 1,100 miles of left turns around two oval tracks.
From Los Angeles Times • May 22, 2026
We note how the small scale, finely drawn swirls of her sleeve are challenged by the suave oval of her face and the emphatic line of her shoulder.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026
Agriculture Minister Jim Fairlie told parliament that the government was confident that greyhound racing "on oval tracks exposes dogs to significant risks that cannot be eliminated by other measures".
From BBC • Mar. 18, 2026
In the oval of light for a moment there moved a form, a human shape: a tall woman looking back over her shoulder.
From "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
