transverse

[ trans-vurs, tranz-; trans-vurs, tranz- ]

/ trænsˈvɜrs, trænz-; ˈtræns vɜrs, ˈtrænz- /

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adjective

lying or extending across or in a cross direction; cross.

(of a flute) having a mouth hole in the side of the tube, near its end, across which the player's breath is directed.Compare end-blown.

(of an automotive engine) mounted with the crankshaft oriented sideways.

noun

something that is transverse.

Nautical. web frame.

Geometry. transverse axis.

a city road that cuts through a park or other area of light traffic; shortcut.

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Origin of transverse

First recorded in 1610–20, transverse is from the Latin word trānsversus going or lying across, athwart. See traverse

OTHER WORDS FROM transverse

trans·verse·ly, adverbsub·trans·verse, adjectivesub·trans·verse·ly, adverb

Words nearby transverse

Transvaalian, Transvaal jade, transvaginal, transvalue, transversal, transverse, transverse arch, transverse axis, transverse colon, transverse dune, transverse flute

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use transverse in a sentence

If you can’t fully rotate your foot toward and away from the center of the body, along what’s known as the transverse plane, you may have balance problems while skiing.
First Time Getting Ski Boots Fitted? Keep These Tips in Mind.|jeremyr|February 8, 2022|Outside Online
She taught these blobs to transverse salty patches of land by gradually filling them with sodium.
Brain size isn’t everything|Candice Wang|January 29, 2021|Popular-Science
It has been reported that the volunteer, a woman, had developed serious neurological symptoms that might have been associated with transverse myelitis, an inflammation of the spinal cord that can be caused by an immune response.
With AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine trials on hold in the U.S., a gulf widens between America and other countries|Jeremy Kahn|October 2, 2020|Fortune
AstraZeneca CEO announced later in the week that the patient in the trial likely had transverse myelitis, a condition that involves inflammation of the spinal cord and can, in rare cases, be triggered by vaccines or viral infections.
AstraZeneca resumed its COVID-19 vaccine trials after uncovering a mysterious reaction|Claire Maldarelli|September 15, 2020|Popular-Science

Soriot said it wasn’t clear whether the participant had a condition called transverse myelitis, a suspected diagnosis.
AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine is back on track after getting the green light to resume trials in the U.K.|Bernhard Warner|September 13, 2020|Fortune
The second pair show that the transverse processes, from the first to the third, are those into which the muscle is inserted.
Assimilative Memory|Marcus Dwight Larrowe (AKA Prof. A. Loisette)
The figures, besides being outlined by the dots, were decorated all over with the same pigment in dotted transverse belts.
Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia] [Volume 2 of 2]|Phillip Parker King
Sir Thomas de la Moore mentions long transverse trenches, similarly covered so as to bear men aware of them, but not horses.
King Robert the Bruce|A. F. Murison
On this black border is a transverse row of four or five white spots, unequal in size.
Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia] [Volume 2 of 2]|Phillip Parker King
Testa ovato-oblonga valde tumida clausa radiatim costata, costis transverse costato-striatis, auriculis minutis, margine crenato.
Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia] [Volume 2 of 2]|Phillip Parker King

British Dictionary definitions for transverse

transverse

/ (trænzˈvɜːs) /

adjective

crossing from side to side; athwart; crossways

geometry denoting the axis that passes through the foci of a hyperbola

(of a flute, etc) held almost at right angles to the player's mouth, so that the breath passes over a hole in the side to create a vibrating air column within the tube of the instrument

astronomy another word for tangential (def. 2)

noun

a transverse piece or object

Derived forms of transverse

transversely, adverbtransverseness, noun

Word Origin for transverse

C16: from Latin transversus, from transvertere to turn across, from trans- + vertere to turn

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

transverse

Origin of transverse

OTHER WORDS FROM transverse

Words nearby transverse

Words related to transverse

How to use transverse in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for transverse

Derived forms of transverse

Word Origin for transverse