catenary
Mathematics. the curve assumed approximately by a heavy uniform cord or chain hanging freely from two points not in the same vertical line. Equation: y = kcosh(x/k).
(in electric railroads) the cable, running above the track, from which the trolley wire is suspended.
of, relating to, or resembling a catenary.
of or relating to a chain or linked series.
Origin of catenary
1Words Nearby catenary
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use catenary in a sentence
In late works from 2019, a skeleton holds an oversize skull over his groin, and in other works, based on a string draped into a catenary curve, the repetition of the motif creates a veil.
Seeing Jasper Johns: Blockbuster exhibition reveals a brilliant but bleak legacy | Philip Kennicott | September 29, 2021 | Washington PostReplacement of track infrastructure, and the electric catenary poles and wires and the signal systems, is work that goes on every year.
The surface formed by revolving the catenary about its directrix is named the alysseide.
How to pass this snow catenary I knew not, for I did not think a human foot could trust itself upon so frail a support.
Hours of Exercise in the Alps | John TyndallSoon after recrossing the snow catenary already mentioned we quitted the ridge to get obliquely along the slope of the pyramid.
Hours of Exercise in the Alps | John Tyndall
The only surface of revolution having this property is the catenoid formed by the revolution of a catenary about its directrix.
One of the most laborious and practically useful works of Giddy was a treatise on the properties of the catenary Curve.
Cornish Characters | S. Baring-Gould
British Dictionary definitions for catenary
/ (kəˈtiːnərɪ) /
the curve assumed by a heavy uniform flexible cord hanging freely from two points. When symmetrical about the y- axis and intersecting it at y = a, the equation is y = a cosh x / a
the hanging cable between pylons along a railway track, from which the trolley wire is suspended
of, resembling, relating to, or constructed using a catenary or suspended chain
Origin of catenary
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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