radial symmetry

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noun Biology.

a basic body plan in which the organism can be divided into similar halves by passing a plane at any angle along a central axis, characteristic of sessile and bottom-dwelling animals, as the sea anemone and starfish.

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Compare bilateral symmetry.

Origin of radial symmetry

First recorded in 1885–90

Words nearby radial symmetry

radial motion, radial nerve, radial paralysis, radial-ply, radial saw, radial symmetry, radial tire, radial triangulation, radial tyre, radial vein, radial velocity

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use radial symmetry in a sentence

But, he says, what ultimately makes a hat look good on a person is the symmetry of the crown of their head to their jaw line.
The Harlem Hat Shop You Have to Visit|Justin Jones|October 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In a nice bit of symmetry, 56% of Democrats said that Bush should be impeached in July of 2007, according to a Rasmussen survey.
The Absurd Impeachment Feedback Loop|John Avlon|July 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Somehow, finding a Jew to blame makes up sort of deep symmetry that allows people to comfort themselves that they have an answer.
Ron Rosenbaum on Hitler, Hollywood, and Quantifying Evil|William O’Connor|July 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The symmetry of their experiences only made her more determined to continue her journey.
Israel, Hamas, WhatsApp and Hacked Phones in the Gaza Psy-War|Itay Hod|July 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST

And he might very well have felt the power of such poetic symmetry.
Tupac and Murray Kempton: The Godfather Who Wore Tweed|Michael Daly|June 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
If now we turn to the higher aspects of form, such as symmetry and proportion, we encounter a difficulty.
Children's Ways|James Sully
Among the ladies of "gentle blood," however, there is more of the asserted aristocratic symmetry and beauty than among the men.
Glances at Europe|Horace Greeley
The cubicula were also defaced, their symmetry injured, and their construction endangered by similar imprudent excavations.
The Catacombs of Rome|William Henry Withrow
He had such a good sense of symmetry that his piles were always extremely neat.
Kari the Elephant|Dhan Gopal Mukerji
We perceive art in the arrangement of sentences, in the rhythm, in the symmetry of construction.
Beacon Lights of History, Volume I|John Lord

British Dictionary definitions for radial symmetry

radial symmetry

noun

a type of structure of an organism or part of an organism in which a vertical cut through the axis in any of two or more planes produces two halves that are mirror images of each otherCompare bilateral symmetry

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

Scientific definitions for radial symmetry

radial symmetry

Symmetrical arrangement of parts of an organism around a single main axis, so that the organism can be divided into similar halves by any plane that contains the main axis. The body plans of echinoderms, ctenophores, cnidarians, and many sponges and sea anemones show radial symmetry. Compare bilateral symmetry.