as in oval
a shape that resembles a flattened circle
The teacher drew an ellipse on the chalkboard that intended to illustrate the moon's orbit around the Earth.
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Recent Examples of ellipse
The spacecraft traced a long ellipse, reaching lunar distance but then falling back to Earth and burning up on reentry over the Pacific Ocean.
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IEEE Spectrum, 15 Feb. 2024
In 2010, astrophysicists including Sean Raymond at the University of Bordeaux in France simulated the evolution of planetary systems and found that when one gas giant planet punts a sibling from their home system, as sometimes happens, the expulsion stretches the survivor’s orbit into an ellipse.
—Charlie Wood, WIRED, 31 Dec. 2023
At around 125 miles in altitude, mission controllers would adjust the ISS’s trajectory, tweaking the rocket’s burn to reshape the station’s roughly circular orbit into an ellipse, with its closest earthward point, or perigee, perhaps 90 miles above the planet.
—Meghan Bartels, Scientific American, 21 Nov. 2023
Astronomers continue to take a page from Hubble’s playbook and scrutinize Andromeda, the faint ellipse in the northern sky.
—WIRED, 12 Nov. 2023
See all Example Sentences for ellipse 
IEEE Spectrum, 15 Feb. 2024
In 2010, astrophysicists including Sean Raymond at the University of Bordeaux in France simulated the evolution of planetary systems and found that when one gas giant planet punts a sibling from their home system, as sometimes happens, the expulsion stretches the survivor’s orbit into an ellipse.
—Charlie Wood, WIRED, 31 Dec. 2023
At around 125 miles in altitude, mission controllers would adjust the ISS’s trajectory, tweaking the rocket’s burn to reshape the station’s roughly circular orbit into an ellipse, with its closest earthward point, or perigee, perhaps 90 miles above the planet.
—Meghan Bartels, Scientific American, 21 Nov. 2023
Astronomers continue to take a page from Hubble’s playbook and scrutinize Andromeda, the faint ellipse in the northern sky.
—WIRED, 12 Nov. 2023
See all Example Sentences for ellipse
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ellipse
Noun
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Shapes of all kinds have been trending for the past five years, but primarily almond (oval with a more pointed tip), square, and coffin.Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 8 Dec. 2024
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The auroral oval typically sits at about 65 degrees north latitude in northern Norway, northern Sweden, northern Finland, Iceland, Alaska and northern Canada.Jamie Carter, Forbes, 5 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Last week, 10,000 cartons of organic eggs sold at Costco—sourced from New York’s Handsome Brook Farms—were also recalled over salmonella concerns.Mary Whitfill Roeloffs, Forbes, 3 Dec. 2024
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New Zealand has halted all poultry exports after confirming its first case of bird flu on an egg farm in the southern region of Otago.Matthew Brockett, Fortune Asia, 2 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Haruki Murakami’s new novel, The City and Its Uncertain Walls, features an imaginary world that is both intricate and baffling: A parallel universe contains a walled city, which contains a library, which contains orbs that contain people’s dreams.Randy Boyagoda, The Atlantic, 27 Nov. 2024
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Nations: Our proudest moments include the inclusion of our orb bottles and Dasani in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge and the Marvel Heroes Campaign.Caroline Reid, Forbes, 27 Nov. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Ellipse.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ellipse. Accessed 18 Dec. 2024.
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