Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The curve formed by a perfectly flexible, uniformly dense, and inextensible cable suspended from its endpoints. It is identical to the graph of a hyperbolic cosine.
- noun Something having the general shape of this curve.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Relating to a chain; like a chain. Also
catenarian . - noun A catenary curve.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Relating to a chain; like a chain.
- noun (Geol.) The curve formed by a rope or chain of uniform density and perfect flexibility, hanging freely between two points of suspension, not in the same vertical line.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun geometry The
curve described by a flexiblechain or arope if it is supported at each end and is acted upon only by no otherforces than auniform gravitational force due to its own weight. - noun nautical The curve of an
anchor cable from theseabed to thevessel ; it should behorizontal at the anchor so as to bury the flukes. - noun A system of overhead
power lines that provide trains, trolleys, buses, etc., withelectricity , having a straight conductor wire and a bowed suspension cable.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the curve theoretically assumed by a perfectly flexible and inextensible cord of uniform density and cross section hanging freely from two fixed points
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
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Examples
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The term catenary comes from the curve created by the sagging of a wire or chain between two points.
The Overhead Wire 2009
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Get the N.E. corridors speeds ups by replacing catenary from the 1930’s, better superelevation, equipment et al. That’s only a start as the rest of the country needs upgrading as well.
Obama Rides the Rails to Power - The Caucus Blog - NYTimes.com 2008
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A catenary is a cross between a cat and a canary, and if you keep one you must discipline it strongly to make sure it does not eat itself.
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A catenary is the "curve made by a freely flexible chain or cord when hanging between two fixed points" Webster's New World.
December, 1908 Lisa Hirsch 2008
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(The catenary is the curve of a flexible cable suspended by its ends and acted on by gravity.)
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A catenary is the curve defined by a rope or chain hanging loosely from two supports, like a "U"with a detachable jaw.
Archive 2007-06-01 Jeremiah McNichols 2007
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A catenary is the curve defined by a rope or chain hanging loosely from two supports, like a "U"with a detachable jaw.
How to Ride a Square-Wheeled Tricycle Jeremiah McNichols 2007
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The shape of the curve a catenary is the one that minimizes the potential energy of the entire chain.
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The shape of the curve a catenary is the one that minimizes the potential energy of the entire chain.
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These cables would be as much as fifteen inches in diameter and each would hang over the river in what is known as a catenary curve, that perfect natural form taken by any rope or cable suspended from two points, which in this case were the summits of the two stone towers.
The Great Bridge David McCullough 1972
chained_bear commented on the word catenary
"And in fact the ropeway was complete before they had even so much as a smell of the transports: the entire midshipmen's berth and all the ship's boys had, on one pretext or another, walked, crawled, and finally climbed the whole majestic catenary curve from bottom to top..."
--Patrick O'Brian, The Ionian Mission, 335
February 14, 2008