vertical circle


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vertical circle

n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

vertical circle

n
(Astronomy) astronomy a great circle on the celestial sphere passing through the zenith and perpendicular to the horizon
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ver′tical cir′cle



n.
a great circle on the celestial sphere passing through the zenith.
[1550–60]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.vertical circle - a great circle on the celestial sphere passing through the zenith and perpendicular to the horizon
great circle - a circular line on the surface of a sphere formed by intersecting it with a plane passing through the center
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
References in periodicals archive ?
And towering above it all was a tall ride which span people in a huge vertical circle.
From Blackstone Point near Arnside, people will be able to see the amazing sight of an apparently vertical circle that reflects the colour of the changing sky.
He detected its motion with the 1.5-meter vertical circle, a position-measuring instrument that he had commissioned for his observatory in Palermo, Sicily.
When it is moving through a wide arc, suddenly swing it rapidly in a vertical circle several times.
According to the description of Biot (1821), this goniometer consists of a vertical circle with a horizontal mirrored glass in its center [ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURE 26 OMITTED].
Most goniometers with mirrors are of the Wollaston type; that is, they have a vertical circle. As already mentioned, however, the measuring technique is workable for circles in any position.
(1) A crystal mounted in wax on a vertical circle can, through its own weight, move out of position, and therefore only small crystals are suitable for measurement.
In free space the two distances describe a circle (imagine tying two strings to a key and, holding one string in each hand, swinging it in a vertical circle).
Transits consist of three basic parts: an alidade (the upper part of the surveying instrument); horizontal and vertical circles; and a leveling head.
Transits consist of three basic parts: an alidade (the upper part of the surveying instrument), horizontal and vertical circles, and a leveling head.

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