5 results for: tangential

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
tan·gen·tial    Audio Help   [tan-jen-shuhl] Pronunciation Key
–adjective
1.pertaining to or of the nature of a tangent; being or moving in the direction of a tangent.
2.merely touching; slightly connected: tangential information.
3.divergent or digressive, as from a subject under consideration: tangential remarks.
4.tending to digress or to reply to questions obliquely.
Also, tan·gen·tal    Audio Help   [tan-jen-tl] Pronunciation Key.


[Origin: 1620–30; tangent + -ial]

tan·gen·ti·al·i·ty, noun
tan·gen·tial·ly, tan·gen·tal·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
tangential

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
tan·gen·tial    Audio Help   (tān-jěn'shəl)  Pronunciation Key 
adj.  
  1. Of, relating to, or moving along or in the direction of a tangent.
  2. Merely touching or slightly connected.
  3. Only superficially relevant; divergent: a tangential remark.

tan·gen'ti·al'i·ty (-shē-āl'ĭ-tē) n., tan·gen'tial·ly adv.
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
tangential

adjective
1. of superficial relevance if any; "a digressive allusion to the day of the week"; "a tangential remark" [syn: digressive
2. of or relating to or acting along or in the direction of a tangent; "tangential forces" 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Tangential

Tan*gen"tial\, a. (Geom.) Of or pertaining to a tangent; in the direction of a tangent.

Tangential force (Mech.), a force which acts on a moving body in the direction of a tangent to the path of the body, its effect being to increase or diminish the velocity; -- distinguished from a normal force, which acts at right angles to the tangent and changes the direction of the motion without changing the velocity.

Tangential stress. (Engin.) See Shear, n., 3.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

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