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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
translation icon : 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 section
vsparabola
  • Specialized
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
conic
vsparabola
  • Specialized
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

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.