radial

American  

[rey-dee-uhl] / ˈreɪ di əl /

adjective

1. arranged like radii or rays.

2. having spokes, bars, lines, etc., arranged like radii, as a machine.

3. made in the direction of a radius; going from the center outward or from the circumference inward along a radius.

   a radial cut.

4. Zoology. pertaining to structures that radiate from a central point, as the arms of a starfish.

5. of, like, or pertaining to a radius or a ray.

6. Machinery.

   1. having pistons moving inward and outward from a central point or shaft.

      a radial engine; a radial pump.

   2. noting a bearing designed primarily to take thrusts radial to the center of rotation.

7. Anatomy, Entomology. of, relating to, or situated near the radius.

8. acting along or in the direction of the radius of a circle.

   radial motion; radial velocity.

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noun

radials plural

1. a radial section or construction.

2. Automotive. radial tire.

radial British  

/ ˈreɪdɪəl /

adjective

1. (of lines, bars, beams of light, etc) emanating from a common central point; arranged like the radii of a circle

2. of, like, or relating to a radius or ray

3. spreading out or developing uniformly on all sides

4. of or relating to the arms of a starfish or similar radiating structures

5. anatomy of or relating to the radius or forearm

6. astronomy (of velocity) in a direction along the line of sight of a celestial object and measured by means of the red shift (or blue shift) of the spectral lines of the object Compare tangential

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noun

1. a radial part or section

2. zoology

   1. any of the basal fin rays of most bony fishes

   2. a radial or radiating structure, such as any of the ossicles supporting the oral disc of a sea star

3. short for radial tyre radial drilling machine

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• radiality
  noun
• multiradial
  adjective
• radially
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• radials
  plural

Etymology

Origin of radial

1560–70; < Medieval Latin radiālis, equivalent to Latin radi ( us ) beam, ray ( see radius) + -ālis -al ¹

Explanation

Radial things stick out from a center point or have to do with the radius of a circle. On a map, you can see that a traffic circle or roundabout consists of radial streets extending out from the center. A radius is a line from the center of a circle to its edge, or circumference. The adjective radial describes anything that acts as a radius or resembles one — often something radial is literally a line sticking straight out from a center point. Radial tires are designed so that each individual rubber cord making up the tire's surface lies in a radial direction from the middle of the tire. In Latin, radius means "shaft" or "spoke of a wheel."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

radial radials

The four systems attracted attention because their visible stars showed a pronounced radial wobble.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 15, 2026

The Warwick team, working with astronomers from the University of Colorado Boulder in the US, was interested in the four nearby systems because of a "substantial radial wobble".

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026

But the promised buildings have never materialised, and Crown Road, a four-kilometre circular road with 12 radial routes is still under construction.

From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026

The playa is arranged as a semicircle, and radial streets are named as if their position were a clock face.

From Salon ● Oct. 27, 2025

She left the radial lines alone, as they were needed for support.

From "Charlotte's Web" by E.B. White

But wrist and hand could not have originated as a package deal, as Thorogood proposed, because lungfish and other living and fossil lobe-finned fishes have radials or wrist bones without having digits.

From Scientific American ● Jun. 17, 2020

The book focusses on six designs: arcs or waves, meanders, spirals, radials or explosions, cells and networks, and fractals.

From The New Yorker ● Apr. 3, 2019

The federal government poured money into the brand new interstate system, encouraging radials, arteries and thoroughfares through dense urban neighbourhoods.

From The Guardian ● Feb. 21, 2018

In the deep violet light at 70 feet, the sight is shocking: steel-belted radials covering an area the size of 27 football fields.

From Slate ● Aug. 5, 2016

The depressed forms with 6 radials and a more slender central represent var. spinosior Lem.

From North American Species of Cactus by Coulter, John Merle