elliptical

• POS: Adjective
• HYPHEN: el=lip=ti=cal

CIDE DICTIONARY

elliptical, a. [Gr. : cf. F. elliptique. See Ellipsis.].

•  Of or pertaining to an ellipse; having the form of an ellipse; oblong, with rounded ends.  [1913 Webster]

  "The planets move in elliptic orbits."  [1913 Webster]

  "The billiard sharp who any one catches,
  His doom's extremely hard --
  He's made to dwell
  In a dungeon cell
  On a spot that's always barred.
  And there he plays extravagant matches
  In fitless finger-stalls
  On a cloth untrue
  With a twisted cue
  And elliptical billiard balls!"
•  Having a part omitted; as, an elliptical phrase.  [1913 Webster]
•  leaving out information essential to comprehension; so concise as to be difficult to understand; obscure or ambiguous; -- of speech or writing; as, an elliptical comment.  [PJC]

Elliptic chuck. See under Chuck. -- Elliptic compasses, an instrument arranged for drawing ellipses. -- Elliptic function. (Math.) See Function. -- Elliptic integral. (Math.) See Integral. -- Elliptic polarization. See under Polarization.

THESAURUS

elliptical

Spartan, abbreviated, abridged, abstracted, aposiopestic, bell-like, bell-shaped, bobbed, brief, brusque, campaniform, campanular, campanulate, capsule, capsulized, clipped, close, compact, compendious, compressed, concise, condensed, contracted, crisp, cropped, curt, curtailed, cut, cut short, digested, docked, elided, ellipsoid, elliptic, elongated, epigrammatic, gnomic, laconic, mowed, mown, nipped, oblong, oblongated, oblongitudinal, parabolic, pithy, pointed, pollard, polled, pruned, reaped, rectangular, reserved, saucer-shaped, sententious, shaved, sheared, short, short and sweet, short-cut, shortened, snub, snubbed, succinct, summary, synopsized, taciturn, terse, tight, to the point, trimmed, truncated

ROGET THESAURUS

elliptical

Conciseness

N conciseness, brevity, the soul of wit, laconism, Tacitus, ellipsis, syncope, abridgment, compression, epitome, monostich, brunch word, portmanteau word, concise, brief, short, terse, close, to the point, exact, neat, compact, compressed, condensed, pointed, laconic, curt, pithy, trenchant, summary, pregnant, compendious, succinct, elliptical, epigrammatic, quaint, crisp, sententious, concisely, briefly, summarily, in brief, in short, in a word, in a few words, for shortness sake, to come to the point, to make a long story short, to cut the matter short, to be brief, it comes to this, the long and the short of it is, brevis esse laboro obscurus fio.

Circularity

N circularity, roundness, rotundity, circle, circlet, ring, areola, hoop, roundlet, annulus, annulet, bracelet, armlet, ringlet, eye, loop, wheel, cycle, orb, orbit, rundle, zone, belt, cordon, band, contrate wheel, crown wheel, hub, nave, sash, girdle, cestus, cincture, baldric, fillet, fascia, wreath, garland, crown, corona, coronet, chaplet, snood, necklace, collar, noose, lasso, lassoo, ellipse, oval, ovule, ellipsoid, cycloid, epicycloid, epicycle, semicircle, quadrant, sextant, sector, sphere, round, rounded, circular, annular, orbicular, oval, ovate, elliptic, elliptical, egg-shaped, pear-shaped, cycloidal, spherical, I watched the little circles die.