semicircle
Americannoun
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semicircles
plural
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Also called semicircumference. half of a circle; the arc from one end of a diameter to the other.
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anything having or arranged in the form of a half of a circle.
noun
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one half of a circle
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half the circumference of a circle
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anything having the shape or form of half a circle
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of semicircle
From the Latin word sēmicirculus, dating back to 1520–30. See semi-, circle
Vocabulary lists containing semicircle
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Miloš Forman, the director, had four or five of us sit in a semicircle, as if in a hospital group-therapy session.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026
For instance, traveling from the North Pole to the South Pole along Earth's surface follows a semicircle, which represents the shortest possible route on a sphere.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 9, 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
Doors opened and shut, and people began to emerge, gathering into a semicircle.
From Slate ● Oct. 27, 2025
The men walked the edges of the yard in a semicircle, their hands outstretched like the stiff figures I liked to cut from folded newspapers.
From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago
“Feeling valued” and “adding value” form semicircles around the target, and an outer circle replicates the four domains for each of the “value” categories in the adjacent inner ring.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 6, 2022
If the amputated upper arm of an antique sculpture looked like a circle from one angle, he would build up the rest of the figure with circles and semicircles.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 14, 2021
He draws his characters in a way that initially suggests minimal emotion: their eyes are dots, their mouths small semicircles.
From The New Yorker ● Jan. 14, 2019
About five years ago, the artist Gabriel Orozco started printing colorful stickers that mimic the geometry of his abstract paintings: semicircles and quarter-circles in red, gold, white and blue.
From New York Times ● Feb. 8, 2017
Some people around Welch cut tires into two semicircles, painted them white, and used them as edging for their gardens.
From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls
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