coned

Variant of cone

noun

    1. a flat-based, single-pointed solid formed by a rotating straight line that traces out a closed-curved base from a fixed vertex point that is not in the same plane as the base; esp., one () formed by tracing a circle from a vertex perpendicular to the center of the base (also formed by rotating a right triangle 360° with either leg as the axis, or by rotating an isosceles triangle 360° with the altitude as the axis)
    2. the surface of such a solid
    3. a similar unbounded surface extending outward in both directions from a point: it is formed by rotating in an elliptical or circular pattern a straight line that always passes through this point
  1. any object or mass shaped like a cone; specif.,
    1. a crisp shell of pastry for holding a scoop of ice cream
    2. the peak of a volcano
    3. any of various machine parts
  2. Bot.
    1. a reproductive structure of certain nonflowering plants, consisting of an elongated central axis upon which are borne overlapping scales, bracts, sporophylls, etc., usually in a spiral fashion, and in which are produced pollen, spores, or ovules; strobilus: cones are found in cycads, conifers, club mosses, horsetails, etc.
    2. any similar structure, as the catkin of hops
  3. Zool.
    1. any of the flask-shaped cells in the retina of most vertebrates, sensitive to bright light and color
    2. cone shell
  4. the diaphragm (sense ) of a speaker, usually cone-shaped

Origin: ME < L conus < Gr kōnos, a wedge, peak, cone < IE base kō(n)-, to sharpen > hone, L cos

transitive verb coned, coning

to shape like a cone or a conical segment
Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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