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spirality

 - 5 dictionary results

spi⋅ral

  [spahy-ruhl] noun, adjective, verb, -raled, -ral⋅ing or (especially British) -ralled, -ral⋅ling.
Use spirality in a Sentence
–noun
1. Geometry. a plane curve generated by a point moving around a fixed point while constantly receding from or approaching it.
2. a helix.
3. a single circle or ring of a spiral or helical curve or object.
4. a spiral or helical object, formation, or form.
5. Aeronautics. a maneuver in which an airplane descends in a helix of small pitch and large radius, with the angle of attack within that of the normal flight range.
6. Football. a type of kick or pass in which the ball turns on its longer axis as it flies through the air.
7. Economics. a continuous increase in costs, wages, prices, etc. (inflationary spiral), or a decrease in costs, wages, prices, etc. (deflationary spiral).
–adjective
8. running continuously around a fixed point or center while constantly receding from or approaching it; coiling in a single plane: a spiral curve.
9. coiling around a fixed line or axis in a constantly changing series of planes; helical.
10. of or of the nature of a spire or coil.
11. bound with a spiral binding; spiral-bound: a spiral notebook.
–verb (used without object)
12. to take a spiral form or course.
13. to advance or increase steadily; rise: Costs have been spiraling all year.
14. Aeronautics. to fly an airplane through a spiral course.
–verb (used with object)
15. to cause to take a spiral form or course.
Origin:
1545–55; < ML spīrālis, equiv. to L spīr(a) coil (< Gk speîra anything coiled, wreathed, or twisted; see spire 2 ) + -ālis -al 1

Related forms:
spi⋅ral⋅i⋅ty  [spahy-ral-i-tee] , noun
spi⋅ral⋅ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To spirality
spi·ral   (spī'rəl)   
n.  

    1. A curve on a plane that winds around a fixed center point at a continuously increasing or decreasing distance from the point.

    2. A three-dimensional curve that turns around an axis at a constant or continuously varying distance while moving parallel to the axis; a helix.

    3. Something having the form of such a curve: a spiral of black smoke.

  2. Printing A spiral binding.

  3. The course or flight path of an object rotating on its longitudinal axis.

  4. A continuously accelerating increase or decrease: the wage-price spiral.

adj.  

  1. Of or resembling a spiral.

  2. Circling around a center at a continuously increasing or decreasing distance.

  3. Coiling around an axis in a constantly changing series of planes; helical.

  4. Printing Relating to or having a spiral binding: a spiral notebook.

v.   spi·raled also spi·ralled, spi·ral·ing also spi·ral·ling, spi·rals also spi·rals

v.   intr.

  1. To take a spiral form or course.

  2. To rise or fall with steady acceleration.

v.   tr.
To cause to take a spiral form or course.

[Medieval Latin spīrālis, of a spiral, from Latin spīra, coil; see spire2.]
spi·ral'i·ty (spī-rāl'ĭ-tē) n., spi'ral·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

spiral  (adj.)
1551, from M.Fr. spiral, from M.L. spiralis "winding, coiling" (1255), from L. spira "coil," from Gk. speira "coil, twist, wreath," from PIE *sper- "to turn, twist." The verb is attested from 1834; the fig. sense is from 1922. The noun is first recorded 1656; U.S. football sense is from 1896. Spiral galaxy first attested 1913.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: 2spiral
Function: noun
1 : the path of a point in a plane moving around a central point while continuously receding from or approaching it
2 : a three-dimensional curve (as a helix) with one or more turns about an axis spiral of DNA>
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

spiral spi·ral (spī'rəl)
adj.
Coiling or developing around an axis in a constantly changing series of planes; helical. n.
A structure in the shape of a coil. v. spi·raled or spi·ralled, spi·ral·ing or spi·ral·ling, spi·rals or spi·rals
To take the form or course of a spiral.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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