protractor
[proh-trak-ter, pruh-]
- a person or thing that protracts.
- (in surveying, mathematics, etc.) an instrument having a graduated arc for plotting or measuring angles.
- Anatomy. a muscle that causes a part to protrude.
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Origin of protractor
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for protractor
Historical Examples of protractor
The protractor has a graduated disk, and is adjustable so it can be disposed at any angle.
Practical Mechanics for BoysJ. S. Zerbe
He was using a protractor, which was divided into Galactic degrees.
The PlayersEverett B. Cole
Protractor: that which extends or lengthens out: applied to muscles.
Explanation of Terms Used in EntomologyJohn. B. Smith
We'll start with the one with the coconut ice and the protractor, please.
The JudgeRebecca West
At that point find, by means of a protractor, the angle a projection of the chord makes with the face of the beam.
The Aeroplane SpeaksH. Barber
protractor
- an instrument for measuring or drawing angles on paper, usually a flat semicircular transparent plastic sheet graduated in degrees
- a person or thing that protracts
- a surgical instrument for removing a bullet from the body
- anatomy a former term for extensor
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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 protractor
1610s, "one who lengthens (an action)," from Medieval Latin protractor, agent noun from Latin protrahere "to draw forward" (see protraction); sense of "instrument for drawing angles" first recorded 1650s.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
protractor
(prō-trăk′tər)- A muscle that extends a limb or other part.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.