triangulate

[trahy-ang-gyuh-lit, -leyt, trahy-ang-gyuh-leyt]

adjective

1. composed of or marked with triangles.

verb (used with object)

triangulated, triangulating 

1. to make triangular.

2. to divide into triangles.

3. to survey (an area) by triangulation.

triangulate

verb

1. 1. to survey by the method of triangulation

   2. to calculate trigonometrically

2. to divide into triangles

3. to make triangular

adjective

1. marked with or composed of triangles

Other Word Forms

• triangulator noun
• subtriangulate adjective
• triangulately adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of triangulate¹

1600–10; < Medieval Latin triangulātus, past participle of triangulāre to make triangles. See triangle, -ate ¹

Example Sentences

With government payroll and inflation data currently unavailable, the Fed has been triangulating conditions from private-sector trackers, state-level unemployment claims, and the Beige Book.

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He was seen as a deft negotiator of the centre ground, triangulating his way out of the straitjacket of traditional left-right politics.

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As Philip Bump wrote in the Washington Post last week, younger voters see “triangulating middle-ground positions” as a “betrayal.”

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The advent of cellular technology has made it so much easier to track where any of us have been, simply by triangulating the locations of the cell towers our phones have pinged along the way.

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We had a shared best friend — we were always triangulating.

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