cross section
1
3.7
- noun
- /ˈkrɔs ˈsɛkʃən/
- Specialized
:
sección transversal
- Basilicas like Old Saint Peter's, shown here in cross section, were long and narrow with window studded masonry walls and wood framed roofs.
- neutron cross section
- transverse cross section
- schematic cross section
We sat facing each other on sturdy benches across a table hewn from a single cross section of some massive tree now nearly consumed by termites.
- We sat facing each other on sturdy benches across a table hewn from a single cross section of some massive tree now nearly consumed by termites.
- If you were to look at a cross section of a wrist, most people's wrist, they're wide and flat.
Examples
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So what we did was we measured a type of cell, namely osteocytes in these cross sections of bone.
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This is the cross section of the solar probe cup.
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If I would take a cross section, it would look like this.
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And just for reference, this is a cross section of what the form feature looks like.
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The plans include all of the cross sections that detail the road layers for each soil condition that has been identified.
Academic text (2012) -
So this shows a cross section through the subsurface.
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Here's a cross section of one of the old trees that's been cut down.
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At this level, the image shows the cross sections of both the tibia and fibula.
Academic text (1997) -
Ray and his colleagues pulled up plants, sliced them with razor blades, and viewed the cross sections under a microscope.
Academic text (1997) -
In biology class, we examined a cross section of a plant stem to study its internal structure.
Synonyms
19
5.5
The shape made when a flat cut passes through a solid object
Showing the inside shape you see when you cut something across, like a tree trunk
A flat shape made when a flat surface cuts through a solid object
Surface Forms
Morphology
The basic composition 'cross' + 'section' transparently evokes the literal notion of an area produced by slicing (a cross-sectional area), which a B1 learner could grasp. However, the physics sense (a probabilistic 'effective area' measuring interaction likelihood) is a metaphorical extension that requires disciplinary knowledge and is not directly derivable from the constituents, so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Cross section comes from the idea of cutting an object and looking at the flat face you see. One simple image is slicing a tree trunk or a loaf of bread to see the rings or the inside shape, and that is why it now means the shape or surface you get when you cut through something.