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tangential - 3 dictionary results

tan⋅gen⋅tial

  [tan-jen-shuhl]
Use tangential in a Sentence
–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  [tan-jen-tl] .

Origin:
1620–30; tangent + -ial

Related forms:
tan⋅gen⋅ti⋅al⋅i⋅ty, noun
tan⋅gen⋅tial⋅ly, tan⋅gen⋅tal⋅ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To tangential
tan·gen·tial   (tān-jěn'shəl)   
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.
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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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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