right angle
16
2.4
- noun
- /raɪt ˈæŋɡəl/
- Specialized
:
ángulo recto
- The carpenter explained that a right angle is formed when two lines are perpendicular to each other.
- right angle triangle
- lines at right angles
- turns at a right angle
Or are these, you might say, kind of at right angles to each other?
- Or are these, you might say, kind of at right angles to each other?
- Because I've seen nails go through wood at right angles to show up and enter your tender flesh.
- All right, now I can add another line at like right angles to it.
Examples
-
At the right time of day... ...the sun hits the glass at just the right angle.
-
To the right, the wall turned a right-angle corner and gave way to the window embrasure.
Fiction book (1993) -
I just got to find the right angle over here.
-
I just got to get it at the right angle.
-
Or are these, you might say, kind of at right angles to each other?
-
Hey, OK, go outside and walk a mile in One Direction and then turn a right angle and walk another.
-
Two flats have been joined at right angles to create the living room corner.
Fiction book (1995) -
I can't find the right angle.
-
The sun strikes the subject at a right angle to the camera-subject axis.
Academic text (2004) -
The light comes from down from above here and enters a right angle prism that reflects the light down the fiber like so.
Antonyms
How Big
- Specialized
- Specialized
- Specialized
1
3.4
- Specialized
401
2.5
- Specialized
16
2.4
- Specialized
1
2.8
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'an angle of exactly 90 degrees' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'right' (denoting the 90-degree relation) with 'angle' (the space between two lines). This compositional noun + modifier pattern is cross‑linguistically common (e.g. French 'angle droit', Spanish 'ángulo recto') and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.
Etymology
The name right angle comes from builders: right meant 'correct' or straight and angle meant a corner, like the perfect corner a carpenter's square makes. So a right angle today is that exact corner of '90 degrees' where two lines meet at a straight, 'correct' corner.