terete

American  

[tuh-reet, ter-eet] / təˈrit, ˈtɛr it /

adjective

1. slender and smooth, with a circular transverse section.

2. cylindrical or slightly tapering.

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terete British  

/ ˈtɛriːt /

adjective

1. (esp of plant parts) smooth and usually cylindrical and tapering

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Other Word Forms

• subterete adjective

Etymology

Origin of terete

1610–20; earlier teret < Latin teret- (stem of teres ) smooth and round, akin to terere to rub

Example Sentences

Pod coriaceous, stipitate, terete, more or less constricted between the seeds, indehiscent.

From Project Gutenberg

Nearly 300 species are Australian or Polynesian, and have terete or vertically compressed leaf stalks, instead of the bipinnate leaves of the much fewer species of America, Africa, etc.

From Project Gutenberg

A. cylindricum and A. Vandarum have terete leaves like Vanda teres, the former with white flowers, having a fleshy yellow and red lip, and the latter, which is more membraneous in substance, being white.

From Project Gutenberg

In consequence of this it is said to be terete.

From Project Gutenberg

Plasmodiocarp terete and more or less elongated, bent and flexuous, sometimes annular or reticulate, irregularly dehiscent.

From Project Gutenberg