Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- Having the form of a half-circle.
- Specifically, in anatomy, noting the three canals of the internal ear, whatever their actual shape. They are usually horseshoe-shaped or oval, and sometimes quite irregular. See
canal , and cuts under Crocodilia, ear, and periotic.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Having the form of half of a circle.
- adjective (Anat.) certain canals of the inner ear. See under
Ear .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective In the shape of half of a
circle or asemicircle .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective curved into a half circle
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Attached to the utricle are three tubes that start and end there, each bending in a semicircle so they are called semicircular canals.
The Human Brain Asimov, Isaac 1963
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The principal charm, however, belongs to the grotto with the river which it discharges -- the site of which may be described as a semicircular termination of a valley on a natural platform half way up a cliff -- the water tumbles down in short cascades for some distance; the grotto inside is untouched by chisel squarings or embellishment, just as Juvenal wished the grot of AEgeria to be.
Byeways in Palestine James Finn
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At the far end was a kind of semicircular nave with built-in benches, which reminded me of a sauna.
Archive 2006-08-01 Walter Jon Williams 2006
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At the far end was a kind of semicircular nave with built-in benches, which reminded me of a sauna.
Log of the Eclipse (11) Walter Jon Williams 2006
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To accomplish this, the heated open end of the cylinder is laid horizontally upon a kind of semicircular cradle, and is held there by tongs handled by two men.
Scientific American Supplement No. 819, September 12, 1891 Various
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Thus the Giants 'Tombs of Sardinia all have a concave façade which forms a kind of semicircular court in front of the entrance to the tomb.
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Wantley was one of those who preferred chewing and he had been spitting upon the floor to such an extent that he was by this time partly surrounded by a kind of semicircular moat of dark brown spittle.
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists Robert Tressell 1890
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Wherever the architect makes use of a round-headed opening he reinforces its outlines with a kind of semicircular frieze, to which brilliant colours or bold reliefs would give no little decorative value.
A History of Art in Chaldæa & Assyria, v. 1 Georges Perrot 1873
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About 14 leagues farther on we came to another cape, the shore between forming a kind of semicircular bay, and the beach was composed of sand thrown up like, a mound or dike, over which the whole country appeared nothing but marshes and pools of water as far as the eye could reach.
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The dome structure itself dates back to the Roman Empire, where the semicircular arch was used for creating large openings in walls.
The cupola: Spain's gift to Mexico's colonial architecture 2009
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