superpose
Americanverb (used with object)
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to place above or upon something else, or one upon another.
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Geometry. to place (one figure) in the space occupied by another, so that the two figures coincide throughout their whole extent.
verb
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geometry to transpose (the coordinates of one geometric figure) to coincide with those of another
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a rare word for superimpose
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of superpose
From the French word superposer, dating back to 1815–25. See super-, pose 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.
See Examples For:
To put over or upon; as to superpose one rock upon another.
From Orthography As Outlined in the State Course of Study for Illinois by Cavins, Elmer W.
On restoring the wire to its original place, it will be extremely flexible, and we may now superpose several contrary polarities under contrary torsions, as already described.
From Scientific American Supplement, No. 392, July 7, 1883 by Various
In a general way, measuring is a wholly human operation, which implies that we really or ideally superpose two objects one on another a certain number of times.
From Creative Evolution by Mitchell, Arthur
But if we superpose the pure spectral colours on a screen, the resulting colours are quite 729 different.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 6 "Cockaigne" to "Columbus, Christopher" by Various
We may give isolated single taps or superpose a series in rapid succession according as the wheel is rotated slow or fast.
From Response in the Living and Non-Living by Bose, Jagadis Chandra, Sir
Like entanglement, the superposed states essential to its power are fragile, collapsing when measured or otherwise perturbed by the outside world.
From Science Magazine ● Jun. 3, 2021
This is further supported by the dust lanes superposed on the host nucleus17, 61.
From Nature ● Oct. 15, 2017
Those superposed probabilities can, moreover, rise and fall with time.
From Economist ● Jun. 18, 2015
The electromagnetic field then transferred information about its superposed phases to the atom.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 9, 2012
Now if a red filter be superposed on the purple one only the red light is transmitted.
From Visual Illusions Their Causes, Characteristics and Applications by Luckiesh, Matthew
When they do so, the pairs start behaving like a single particle, superposing proclivities and all.
From Economist ● Feb. 23, 2012
Lay out the drawer front by superposing the dovetailed side, X, on the end of the front, Y, as in a thru dovetail.
From Handwork in Wood by Noyes, William
There would be no reason, for example, why an angle should not be constructed equal to a given angle by superposing the given angle on another part of the plane.
From The Teaching of Geometry by Smith, David Eugene
An opaque sky, which had a solid air and was made of accumulated, small, horizontal layers, as if one had painted it by superposing pastes of dead colors.
From Ramuntcho by Loti, Pierre
Here we have the four categories of time, place, species, and form; by superposing, then, we obtain divisions of smaller extent.
From Introduction to the Study of History by Berry, George Godfrey
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.
