Perpendicular
adjective
At an angle of 90 degrees to a given line, surface or other object.
The wall is perpendicular to the floor.
Often appears as...
- perpendicular lines
- perpendicular angle
noun
A straight line at an angle of 90 degrees to a given line or surface.
Draw a perpendicular from the point to the line.
Often appears as...
- draw a perpendicular
- perpendicular from point
adjective
Situated at an angle of 90 degrees to each other; at right angles.
These two lines are perpendicular.
Often appears as...
- perpendicular lines
- perpendicular intersection
noun
In architecture, the length from the top of a building to the bottom.
The tower’s perpendicular is impressive.
Often appears as...
- tower’s perpendicular
- building’s perpendicular
Usage tips
Architectural
adjective
At an angle of 90 degrees to a given line, surface or other object.
The wall is perpendicular to the floor.
Often appears as...
- perpendicular lines
- perpendicular angle
noun
A straight line at an angle of 90 degrees to a given line or surface.
Draw a perpendicular from the point to the line.
Often appears as...
- draw a perpendicular
- perpendicular from point
adjective
Situated at an angle of 90 degrees to each other; at right angles.
These two lines are perpendicular.
Often appears as...
- perpendicular lines
- perpendicular intersection
noun
In architecture, the length from the top of a building to the bottom.
The tower’s perpendicular is impressive.
Often appears as...
- tower’s perpendicular
- building’s perpendicular
Usage tips
Architectural
Definition 1 of 4
Pro Tip 1/2Visual Example
Picture a corner of a room where two walls meet the floor for a clear mental image of perpendicular.
The bookshelf is perpendicular to the floor, forming a perfect corner.
Pro Tip 2/2Common Use
In everyday language, 'perpendicular' suggests something is very straight or exactly upright.
Make sure the lamp post is perpendicular; it shouldn't lean at all.
Pro Tip 1/2Visual Example
Picture a corner of a room where two walls meet the floor for a clear mental image of perpendicular.
The bookshelf is perpendicular to the floor, forming a perfect corner.
Pro Tip 2/2Common Use
In everyday language, 'perpendicular' suggests something is very straight or exactly upright.
Make sure the lamp post is perpendicular; it shouldn't lean at all.
Pro Tip 1/2Visual Example
Picture a corner of a room where two walls meet the floor for a clear mental image of perpendicular.
The bookshelf is perpendicular to the floor, forming a perfect corner.
Pro Tip 2/2Common Use
In everyday language, 'perpendicular' suggests something is very straight or exactly upright.
Make sure the lamp post is perpendicular; it shouldn't lean at all.
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Video examples
Surviving a nuclear...
you're in this vicinity you've got to get away so you're feeling the wind and there's tremendous wind now that you're going to be feeling and you want to go perpendicular to the wind or down wind if you are in fact able to see where the blast was in front of you you've got to get out of there if you don't get out of there you're going to
Video examples
Could we build a wooden...
Traditional boards of lumber were fairly strong against forces parallel to the wood’s fiber growth. But they were vulnerable to forces applied perpendicular to this direction. As a result, wood lacked steel’s tensile strength or concrete’s compressive strength— each necessary to support tall buildings
Video examples
The perks of being a...
to achieve the range of motion that I required to mount the curb, I would have to use a different joint, like my hip. So I turned my body perpendicular to the curb and placed my foot up sideways, and I was able to step up immediately. Within five minutes, no staircase was safe from my advances.
Video examples
The quest to understand...
and our mental experience -- I'm going to tell you a personal story. So if I cover my left eye -- I'm talking about me personally, not all of you -- if I cover my left eye, I look at the grid -- pretty much like the one I'm showing you. Everything is nice and fine and perpendicular.
Video examples
Exploring other...
A two-dimensional space is defined by two perpendicular lines, which describe a flat plane like a piece of paper. And a three-dimensional space adds a third perpendicular line, which gives us height and the world we're familiar with. So, what about four dimensions? And five?
Video examples
What is the coldest...
is tuned to just the right frequency that an atom moving towards it will absorb a photon of the laser beam and slow down. The slow down effect comes from the transfer of momentum between the atom and the photon. A total of six beams, in a perpendicular arrangement,
Video examples
Amelia Earhart Part I:...
she was very close because of the strength of these calls and because she said she was on this line of position which is something that fred noonan would have done as a navigator if they haven't found the island directly on course they'll fly on a perpendicular
Video examples
How do hard drives work?...
its magnetization is easily disturbed by heat energy and can cause bits to switch unintentionally, leading to data loss. Scientists resolved this limitation in a remarkably simple by changing the direction of recording from longitudinal to perpendicular,
Video examples
When Watersports Become...
To remain stable, a kayaker keeps the center of mass directly over the kayak center of buoyancy, which is in the middle of its submerged volume. Traveling out to sea, it helps to keep the kayak perpendicular to the waves, because turning sideways
Video examples
The sonic boom problem -...
the wave fronts are now concentric spheres, with the sound traveling along rays perpendicular to these waves. Now imagine a moving sound source, such as a train whistle. As the source keeps moving in a certain direction,
Video examples
Surviving a nuclear...
you're in this vicinity you've got to get away so you're feeling the wind and there's tremendous wind now that you're going to be feeling and you want to go perpendicular to the wind or down wind if you are in fact able to see where the blast was in front of you you've got to get out of there if you don't get out of there you're going to
Video examples
Could we build a wooden...
Traditional boards of lumber were fairly strong against forces parallel to the wood’s fiber growth. But they were vulnerable to forces applied perpendicular to this direction. As a result, wood lacked steel’s tensile strength or concrete’s compressive strength— each necessary to support tall buildings
Video examples
The perks of being a...
to achieve the range of motion that I required to mount the curb, I would have to use a different joint, like my hip. So I turned my body perpendicular to the curb and placed my foot up sideways, and I was able to step up immediately. Within five minutes, no staircase was safe from my advances.
Video examples
The quest to understand...
and our mental experience -- I'm going to tell you a personal story. So if I cover my left eye -- I'm talking about me personally, not all of you -- if I cover my left eye, I look at the grid -- pretty much like the one I'm showing you. Everything is nice and fine and perpendicular.
Video examples
Exploring other...
A two-dimensional space is defined by two perpendicular lines, which describe a flat plane like a piece of paper. And a three-dimensional space adds a third perpendicular line, which gives us height and the world we're familiar with. So, what about four dimensions? And five?
Video examples
What is the coldest...
is tuned to just the right frequency that an atom moving towards it will absorb a photon of the laser beam and slow down. The slow down effect comes from the transfer of momentum between the atom and the photon. A total of six beams, in a perpendicular arrangement,
Video examples
Amelia Earhart Part I:...
she was very close because of the strength of these calls and because she said she was on this line of position which is something that fred noonan would have done as a navigator if they haven't found the island directly on course they'll fly on a perpendicular
Video examples
How do hard drives work?...
its magnetization is easily disturbed by heat energy and can cause bits to switch unintentionally, leading to data loss. Scientists resolved this limitation in a remarkably simple by changing the direction of recording from longitudinal to perpendicular,
Video examples
When Watersports Become...
To remain stable, a kayaker keeps the center of mass directly over the kayak center of buoyancy, which is in the middle of its submerged volume. Traveling out to sea, it helps to keep the kayak perpendicular to the waves, because turning sideways
Video examples
The sonic boom problem -...
the wave fronts are now concentric spheres, with the sound traveling along rays perpendicular to these waves. Now imagine a moving sound source, such as a train whistle. As the source keeps moving in a certain direction,
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
Rainer Weiss
American Physicist
A gravitational wave is a very slight stretching in one dimension. If there's a gravitational wave traveling towards you, you get a stretch in the dimension that's perpendicular to the direction it's moving. And then perpendicular to that first stretch, you have a compression along the other dimension.
Quote examples
Eugene Parker
American Scientist
The tail of the comet always points straight away from the sun, in antisolar direction. Sometimes the tail trails behind, but sometimes it's perpendicular, and sometimes it's ahead of the comet like a headlight on a railroad locomotive.
Quote examples
Frances E. Willard
American Activist
This seems to be the law of progress in everything we do; it moves along a spiral rather than a perpendicular; we seem to be actually going out of the way, and yet it turns out that we were really moving upward all the time.
Quote examples
Mark Ruffalo
American Actor
I have two hammocks, one Mayan and one Guatemalan, both family size because I like to lie in them perpendicular. When I'm working on a character, I lie in them and daydream. They're the best tools for working that I have.
Quote examples
E. B. White
American Writer
I have yet to see a piece of writing, political or non-political, that doesn't have a slant. All writing slants the way a writer leans, and no man is born perpendicular, although many men are born upright.
Quote examples
Pieter Zeeman
Dutch Physicist
Now all oscillatory movements of such an electron can be conceived of as being split up into force, and two circular oscillations perpendicular to this direction rotating in opposite directions.
Quote examples
Johannes Stark
Physicist
We can in fact first place the beam of rays of moving positive atomic ions in a plane perpendicular to the axis in which we see the spectral lines emitted by them.
Quote examples
Peter Diamandis
American Businessman
Companies have too many experts who block innovation. True innovation really comes from perpendicular thinking.
Quote examples
George Bernard Shaw
Irish Playwright
Dancing is a perpendicular expression of a horizontal desire.
Quote examples
Martin Landau
American Actor
My mantra is 'stay perpendicular.' Horizontal is not as good.
Quote examples
Rainer Weiss
American Physicist
A gravitational wave is a very slight stretching in one dimension. If there's a gravitational wave traveling towards you, you get a stretch in the dimension that's perpendicular to the direction it's moving. And then perpendicular to that first stretch, you have a compression along the other dimension.
Quote examples
Eugene Parker
American Scientist
The tail of the comet always points straight away from the sun, in antisolar direction. Sometimes the tail trails behind, but sometimes it's perpendicular, and sometimes it's ahead of the comet like a headlight on a railroad locomotive.
Quote examples
Frances E. Willard
American Activist
This seems to be the law of progress in everything we do; it moves along a spiral rather than a perpendicular; we seem to be actually going out of the way, and yet it turns out that we were really moving upward all the time.
Quote examples
Mark Ruffalo
American Actor
I have two hammocks, one Mayan and one Guatemalan, both family size because I like to lie in them perpendicular. When I'm working on a character, I lie in them and daydream. They're the best tools for working that I have.
Quote examples
E. B. White
American Writer
I have yet to see a piece of writing, political or non-political, that doesn't have a slant. All writing slants the way a writer leans, and no man is born perpendicular, although many men are born upright.
Quote examples
Pieter Zeeman
Dutch Physicist
Now all oscillatory movements of such an electron can be conceived of as being split up into force, and two circular oscillations perpendicular to this direction rotating in opposite directions.
Quote examples
Johannes Stark
Physicist
We can in fact first place the beam of rays of moving positive atomic ions in a plane perpendicular to the axis in which we see the spectral lines emitted by them.
Quote examples
Peter Diamandis
American Businessman
Companies have too many experts who block innovation. True innovation really comes from perpendicular thinking.
Quote examples
George Bernard Shaw
Irish Playwright
Dancing is a perpendicular expression of a horizontal desire.
Quote examples
Martin Landau
American Actor
My mantra is 'stay perpendicular.' Horizontal is not as good.
Example 1 of 10
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