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tetrahedron

American  
[te-truh-hee-druhn] / ˌtɛ trəˈhi drən /

noun

tetrahedrons, plural tetrahedra plural
  1. Geometry. a solid contained by four plane faces; a triangular pyramid.

  2. any of various objects resembling a tetrahedron in the distribution of its faces or apexes.


tetrahedron British  
/ ˌtɛtrəˈhiːdrən /

noun

  1. a solid figure having four plane faces. A regular tetrahedron has faces that are equilateral triangles See also polyhedron

  2. any object shaped like a tetrahedron

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

tetrahedron Scientific  
/ tĕt′rə-hēdrən /
tetrahedrons plural
  1. A polyhedron having four faces.


Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Etymology

Origin of tetrahedron

1560–70; tetra- + -hedron, modeled on Late Greek tetráedron, noun use of neuter of tetráedros four-sided

Vocabulary lists containing tetrahedron

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.

Many elements overlapped, forming a multidimensional sculpture: a triangle might jut out of a tetrahedron and meet another triangle at a point.

From Scientific American • Sep. 26, 2022

For example, a tetrahedron, a solid three-dimensional pyramid with four triangular faces, would fill in a group of four neurons firing together.

From Scientific American • Sep. 26, 2022

As a solid, as a liquid, as a gas, and in solution, white phosphorus exists as P4 molecules with four phosphorus atoms at the corners of a regular tetrahedron, as illustrated in Figure 18.24.

From Textbooks • Feb. 14, 2019

For example, the nitrogen atom in ammonia is surrounded by three bonding pairs and a lone pair of electrons directed to the four corners of a tetrahedron.

From Textbooks • Feb. 14, 2019

Pathfinder's final stage of descent was a balloon-covered tetrahedron.

From "The Martian" by Andy Weir

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