Definitions for: Oval


[n] a closed plane curve resulting from the intersection of a circular cone and a plane cutting completely through it; "the sums of the distances from the foci to any point on an ellipse is constant"
[adj] rounded like an egg



Webster (1913) Definition: O"val, a. [F. ovale, fr. L. ovum egg. Cf. Egg, Ovum.]
1. Of or pertaining to eggs; done in the egg, or inception;
as, oval conceptions. [Obs.]

2. Having the figure of an egg; oblong and curvilinear, with
one end broader than the other, or with both ends of about
the same breadth; in popular usage, elliptical.

3. (Bot.) Broadly elliptical.

Oval chuck (Mech.), a lathe chuck so constructed that work
attached to it, and cut by the turning tool in the usual
manner, becomes of an oval form.


O"val, n.
A body or figure in the shape of an egg, or popularly, of an
ellipse.

Cassinian oval (Geom.), the locus of a point the product of
whose distances from two fixed points is constant; -- so
called from Cassini, who first investigated the curve.
Thus, in the diagram, if P moves so that P A.P B is
constant, the point P describes a Cassinian oval. The
locus may consist of a single closed line, as shown by the
dotted line, or of two equal ovals about the points A and
B.

Synonyms: egg-shaped, ellipse, elliptic, elliptical, ovate, oviform, ovoid, prolate, rounded

See Also: circle, conic, conic section

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