striation

American  

[strahy-ey-shuhn] / straɪˈeɪ ʃən /

noun

1. striated condition or appearance.

2. a stria; one of many parallel striae.

3. Geology. any of a number of scratches or parallel grooves on the surface of a rock, resulting from the action of moving ice, as of a glacier.

4. Cell Biology. any of the alternating light and dark crossbands that are visible in certain muscle fibers, especially of voluntary muscles, and are produced by the distribution of contractile proteins.

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striation British  

/ straɪˈeɪʃən /

noun

1. an arrangement or pattern of striae

2. the condition of being striate

3. another word for stria

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striation Scientific  

/ strī-ā′shən /

1. One of multiple, usually parallel grooves or scratches on a rock surface, produced by abrasion associated with glacial movement, stream flow, a geologic fault, or meteoric impact.

2. See more at glacial striation shatter cone slickenside

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Other Word Forms

• interstriation
  noun

Etymology

Origin of striation

First recorded in 1840–50; striate + -ion

Explanation

If the rock you found on the beach has a deep striation, it means there's an engraved stripe or groove running across it. If the word stripes seems too fun and informal for your descriptive needs, you might want to try striations, which is tech talk for the same thing. Striation likes to keep company with other technical words like longitudinal and transverse, more commonly known as lengthwise and across. The Latin root of striation, stria, means "furrow, channel, or flute of a column."

Example Sentences

"Each rifle barrel is different in minute detail and leaves distinct striation marks on the soft lead of a bullet head as it passes down the barrel," Mr Woods said.

From BBC • Jan. 18, 2025

Many sarcomeres are present in a myofibril, resulting in the striation pattern characteristic of skeletal muscle.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

The separation and striation phenomenon demonstrated in this video was discovered and studied by Hernan A. Makse, who described it in a series of papers, including these:

From Scientific American • Jun. 2, 2014

Her emphasis on overcoming class divides and minority issues is especially salient as the Chinese grapple with their own rural and urban striation and construct an idea of the “China Dream.”

From Washington Post • Mar. 27, 2014

While a poor material in cold climates, because of its striation, it was always sought in Italy for its wonderful texture and tone.

From The Art of the Exposition by Neuhaus, Eugen

Related Words

• fiber