subtend
Americanverb (used with object)
-
Geometry. to extend under or be opposite to.
a chord subtending an arc.
-
Botany. (of a leaf, bract, etc.) to occur beneath or close to.
-
to form or mark the outline or boundary of.
verb
-
geometry to be opposite to and delimit (an angle or side)
-
(of a bract, stem, etc) to have (a bud or similar part) growing in its axil
-
to mark off
-
to underlie; be inherent in
Etymology
Origin of subtend
1560–70; < Latin subtendere to stretch beneath, equivalent to sub- sub- + tendere to stretch; see tend 1
Vocabulary lists containing subtend
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 line with letters that subtend 5 minutes of an arc from 20 feet represents the smallest letters that a person with normal acuity should be able to read at that distance.
From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013
The parallax of the nearest star is only one second, the whole lenticular mass of light which surrounds our sun would therefore only subtend an angle of a single second at the nearest fixed star.
From Outlines of a Mechanical Theory of Storms Containing the True Law of Lunar Influence by Thomas Bassnett
How do we discover that, in an isosceles triangle, the sides which subtend the equal angles are equal?
From A Handbook of Ethical Theory by George Stuart Fullerton
Sitting in my study here, I glance out of the window and discern separate bricks, in houses five hundred feet away, with my unaided eye; they subtend a discernible angle.
From Recreations in Astronomy With Directions for Practical Experiments and Telescopic Work by Henry White Warren
It is obvious that these astrological hours will be of unequal length, as equal portions of the ecliptic subtend unequal angles at the pole of the equator.
From Notes and Queries, Number 69, February 22, 1851 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc. by George Bell
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.
