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View synonyms for parabola

parabola

[ puh-rab-uh-luh ]

noun

, Geometry.
  1. a plane curve formed by the intersection of a right circular cone with a plane parallel to a generator of the cone; the set of points in a plane that are equidistant from a fixed line and a fixed point in the same plane or in a parallel plane. Equation: y 2 = 2 px or x 2 = 2 py.


parabola

/ pəˈræbələ /

noun

  1. a conic section formed by the intersection of a cone by a plane parallel to its side. Standard equation: y ² = 4 ax , where 2 a is the distance between focus and directrix
“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

parabola

/ pə-răbə-lə /

  1. The curve formed by the set of points in a plane that are all equally distant from both a given line (called the directrix) and a given point (called the focus) that is not on the line.

parabola

  1. A geometrical shape ( see geometry ) consisting of a single bend and two lines going off to an infinite distance.
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Notes

An object that is propelled away from the Earth and then drawn back by gravity , such as a fly ball in baseball, follows a path shaped like a parabola.
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Word History and Origins

Origin of parabola1

1570–80; < New Latin < Greek parabolḗ an application. See parable
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Word History and Origins

Origin of parabola1

C16: via New Latin from Greek parabolē a setting alongside; see parable
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Example Sentences

The stone, with the rope trailing it, made a small parabola in the air, and the line, as if with a sigh, fell limply into the river only ninety tails away.

The shortage of shells meant Danylo couldn’t fire his gun from a distance as he would an artillery piece, the round arcing in a parabola.

They interlock, forming a three-dimensional-looking beam comprised of geometric patterns — a rotated hyperbolic parabola .

Among his discoveries was a need to move his takeoff point farther back for higher jumps, so he could change the apex of the parabola shape of his jump to clear the bar.

Seen from the ground, their ephemeral parabolas look like calligraphic brushstrokes.

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