prolate
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of prolate
1685–95; < Latin prōlātus, past participle of prōferre to bring forward, extend; see pro- 1, oblate 1
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.
The embankments rose like the prolate rock formations in Chinese scroll paintings, massive looming shapes half lost to fog.
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 22, 2019
The eye cornea is approximated as a prolate spheroid with an axis that is the eye, where a = 8.7 mm and c = 9.6 mm.
From Textbooks ● Mar. 30, 2016
The only thing more unpredictable is fans of the prolate spheroid.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 2, 2015
A football is a prolate spheroid, and it’s shaped that way because that’s also the shape of an inflated pig’s bladder, which is what the first footballs were made of.
From Time ● Dec. 30, 2013
The crucial dispute between Cartesians and Newtonians was over the shape of the Earth: Newton predicted an oblate ellipsoid, or flattened, Earth, while the Cartesians had predicted a prolate ellipsoid, or egg-shaped, Earth.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
