Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A half of a circle as divided by a diameter.
- noun An object or arrangement of objects or people in the shape of half a circle.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The half of a circle; the part of a circle comprehended between a diameter and the half of a circumference; also, the half of the circumference itself.
- noun Any body or arrangement of objects in the form of a half-circle.
- noun An instrument for measuring angles; a species of theodolite with only half a graduated circle; a graphometer.
- noun In meteorology, one half of the area covered by a cyclonic storm. In the northern hemisphere the dangerous semicircle for navigation is that on the right-hand side as one advances along the path of the center of a progressive storm: the manageable, or navigable, or safer semicircle is that on the left-hand side.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The half of a circle; the part of a circle bounded by its diameter and half of its circumference.
- noun A semicircumference.
- noun A body in the form of half of a circle, or half of a circumference.
- noun An instrument for measuring angles.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun
Half of acircle . - noun An
instrument for measuringangles .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a plane figure with the shape of half a circle
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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According to the theorem, any triangle inscribed in a semicircle is a right triangle, as is shown in the following diagram:
The Medieval Problem of Universals Klima, Gyula 2008
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The mind would then only tend to the affirmation of the sole motion of a semicircle, which is not contained in the conception of a semicircle, and does not arise from the conception of any cause capable of producing such motion.
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The first figure is a semicircle, which is perpendicular to the plane of the circle ABDZ and which starts on the diameter AED and, with point A remaining fixed, rotates to position AKD.
Archytas Huffman, Carl 2007
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Therefore it is the assumption of B, the half of two right angles, from which it follows that A is attributable to C, i.e. that the angle in a semicircle is a right angle.
Posterior Analytics Aristotle 2002
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The half of a circle is termed a semicircle; thus, in Figure 52, A B and
Mechanical Drawing Self-Taught Joshua Rose
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The vaulting, windows, and doorways had the form of the round arch, that is, a semicircle, as in the ancient Roman monuments.
Early European History Hutton Webster
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I have counted wrong; and of those not three are of other material than stone, nor are there as many others that fail to cause expense to your Majesty and labor to the natives -- and this in one legua about the city as I have said, in a semicircle, which is even not entire, for the other half falls within this bay.
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In the centre of the semicircle was a great round hole, 30 ft. in diameter -- an extinct crater.
Across Unknown South America Arnold Henry Savage Landor 1894
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We had delicious young chicken -- quite babies they were, poor dears -- fried with cream; and wreathed all round our plates in a semicircle were a quantity of tiny dishes.
Lady Betty Across the Water Orson Lowell 1889
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Within the semicircle were a number of Arabs of high and low degree, a few of them well-dressed and armed to the teeth, others dirty and shabby; but all intent on business.
The Three Commanders William Henry Giles Kingston 1847
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