subtend
Americanverb (used with object)
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Geometry. to extend under or be opposite to.
a chord subtending an arc.
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Botany. (of a leaf, bract, etc.) to occur beneath or close to.
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to form or mark the outline or boundary of.
verb
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geometry to be opposite to and delimit (an angle or side)
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(of a bract, stem, etc) to have (a bud or similar part) growing in its axil
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to mark off
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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
For in our sweeping arc from Æschylus to the present time, fifty years subtend scarcely any space; we may say then these men are born together.
From The English Novel And the Principle of its Development by Lanier, Sidney
Let there be therefore two ordinate quinquangles, the first aeiou; The second ysrlm; each of whose sides let them subtend two sides of a decangle; to wit, utym, let it subtend ya, and am.
From The Way To Geometry by Bedwell, William
And while despoiling these smaller muscles which subtend gentle and delicate artistries, the crude larger ones, hypertrophied by athletic activities, become alike a burden and a curse to their possessor.
From Feminism and Sex-Extinction by Kenealy, Arabella
Angles are distinguished by the number of degrees they subtend, to 360°, or the whole circumference of a circle.
From The Sailor's Word-Book An Alphabetical Digest of Nautical Terms, including Some More Especially Military and Scientific, but Useful to Seamen; as well as Archaisms of Early Voyagers, etc. by Belcher, Edward, Sir
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.
