cross section
a section made by a plane cutting anything transversely, especially at right angles to the longest axis.
a piece so cut off.
a photograph, diagram, or other pictorial representation of such a section.
the act of cutting anything across.
a typical selection; a sample showing all characteristic parts, relationships, etc.: a cross section of American opinion.
Surveying. a vertical section of the ground surface taken at right angles to a survey line.
Also called nuclear cross section. Physics. a quantity expressing the effective area that a given nucleus presents as a target to a bombarding particle, giving a measure of the probability that the particle will induce a reaction.
Origin of cross section
1Words Nearby cross section
Other definitions for cross-section (2 of 2)
Also cross-sectional. of or relating to a cross section.
to make or divide into a cross section.
Origin of cross-section
2Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use cross section in a sentence
A sample sliced from that Mars cake would give a cross section of millions of years of lake deposits, providing scientists with a window into how the lake changed over time—and whether life ever emerged there.
After a few hiccups, NASA’s Perseverance begins its main missions on Mars | Monroe Hammond | August 19, 2021 | Popular-ScienceThe number of messages I received from such a vast cross section of people confirms that.
The fresher the powder, the more vibrant the green-and-purple cross section of cake you’ll get.
It’s going to harm a wide cross section of voters, but it’s going to disproportionately impact voters of color.
Arizona Just Became the Latest State to Approve Mail Voting Restrictions. Here’s What to Know | Sanya Mansoor | May 12, 2021 | TimeMy hair did not show up, leaving just the skull and outline of the face with a cross section of the tissues inside.
This wide cross-section of “good people” who took time out of their day to speak out was truly moving.
In The Explorer Gene, science writer Tom Cheshire presents a fascinating cross-section of Piccard family history.
This Week’s Hot Reads: Dec. 2, 2013 | Mythili Rao and Thomas Flynn, Mythili Rao, Thomas Flynn | December 2, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTThe show presents a cross-section of works that blur the line between the humorous and absurd.
“I just want the work to reach as large a cross-section of people as possible,” Montgomery said.
Cotton has, after all, already shown an ability to appeal to a broad cross-section of his fractured party.
Tom Cotton’s Run for Senate in Arkansas Makes Him the New Neocon Darling | Michelle Cottle | August 9, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTIn cross-section the burrows varied from round (three inches in diameter) to oval (three inches high and four inches wide).
Summer Birds From the Yucatan Peninsula | Erwin E. KlaasIn any case, though the exact form of cross section of girders varies very much, it is virtually an I section (fig. 15).
The Fatal Dowry is not an Aristotelian tragedy with a definite beginning, middle, and endit is rather a cross-section of life.
The Fatal Dowry | Philip MassingerIn order to get headroom there is 'trunk' 'rise' on the deck, as shown on the cross-section drawing, 18 in.
Yachting Vol. 2 | Various.The sides of the tank are riveted to a vertical angle iron, the cross section of which is clearly shown in the plan.
An Introduction to Machine Drawing and Design | David Allan Low
British Dictionary definitions for cross section
maths a plane surface formed by cutting across a solid, esp perpendicular to its longest axis
a section cut off in this way
the act of cutting anything in this way
a random selection or sample, esp one regarded as representative: a cross section of the public
surveying a vertical section of a line of ground at right angles to a survey line
physics a measure of the probability that a collision process will result in a particular reaction. It is expressed by the effective area that one participant presents as a target for the other
Derived forms of cross section
- cross-sectional, adjective
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
Scientific definitions for cross section
In particle physics, an expression of the probability of the occurrence of an event, typically the scattering of subatomic particles, over a given area.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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