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Glite Dictionary
parabola

parabola

2 9.2
A curved shape like a U that reflects light or signals to one point
  • noun
  • /pəˈræbələ/
  • Specialized
: parábola
  • There's a cheap infrared camera on hand and a parabola mic—a toy from a spy kit for kids.

And so you have like parabola, you know, a circle, ellipse, whatever.

Examples

  • Its reflector, 12 meters across, deviates no more than 15 micrometers from a perfect parabola.

    Academic text (1996)

  • I want you to sit down right this minute and draw me a parabola.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • So this is our parabola here and we can go ahead and fill that in.

  • Not quite a parabola, but it looks like that.

  • Aim for the center of the parabola!

    Jumanji: The Next Level (2019)

  • So this is the point XY on the parabola that it hits.

  • Incident radio-frequency waves bounce off the dish to a subreflector placed at the focal point of the parabola.

    Academic text (2004)

  • The teaching of the concept of "rate of change" has traditionally been founded in analytical geometry, focusing on parabolas and ballistics.

    Academic text (2010)

  • Arcs and parabolas spun and eddied through Niklas's mind, and he felt a glow of excitement beneath his fear and anxiety.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • The satellite dish is shaped like a parabola to focus signals on the receiver.

Synonyms

conic
vsparabola
  • Specialized
1 8.6

A curve made when a flat surface cuts a cone, like an ellipse or parabola

is the specific case that also satisfies equal distance to focus and directrix
conic section
vsparabola
  • Specialized
1 6.9

A curve made when a flat surface cuts a cone, like an ellipse, parabola, or hyperbola

is one specific curved member of that family defined by focus and directrix

Surface Forms

parabola singular
parabolas plural

Etymology

Parabola comes from Greek parts: para- meaning 'beside' (as in parallel) and ballein meaning 'to throw', so it originally meant 'to throw beside' or 'compare'. Think of throwing a ball so it flies beside a line — that image helps you remember the curved path that brings things to a single point, which is why satellite dishes and the path of a thrown ball are shaped like a parabola.