The Earth's path round the sun is elliptical. 地球绕太阳的轨道是椭圆形的。
A cylindrical surface or solid all of whose sections perpendicular to the elements are elliptical. 椭圆柱与组成要素垂直的所有圆柱形表面或柱体的部分是椭圆形的柱体
An elliptical track, as for racing or athletic events. 椭圆形跑道如用于比赛或运动项目的椭圆形跑道
elliptical
[ adj ]
rounded like an egg
<adj.all>
characterized by extreme economy of expression or omission of superfluous elements
<adj.all> the dialogue is elliptic and full of dark hints the explanation was concise, even elliptical to the verge of obscurity
Elliptic \El*lip"tic\, Elliptical \El*lip"tic*al\, a. [Gr. ?: cf. F. elliptique. See {Ellipsis}.] 1. Of or pertaining to an ellipse; having the form of an ellipse; oblong, with rounded ends.
The planets move in elliptic orbits. --Cheyne.
The billiard sharp who any one catches, His doom's extremely hard He's made to dwell In a dungeon cell On a spot that's always barred. And there he plays extravagant matches In fitless finger-stalls On a cloth untrue With a twisted cue And elliptical billiard balls! --Gilbert and Sullivan (The Mikado: The More Humane Mikado Song)
2. Having a part omitted; as, an elliptical phrase.
3. leaving out information essential to comprehension; so concise as to be difficult to understand; obscure or ambiguous; -- of speech or writing; as, an elliptical comment. [PJC]
{Elliptic chuck}. See under {Chuck}.
{Elliptic compasses}, an instrument arranged for drawing ellipses.
{Elliptic function}. (Math.) See {Function}.
{Elliptic integral}. (Math.) See {Integral}.
{Elliptic polarization}. See under {Polarization}.
And the preliminary elliptical spaces that lead from the entrance into the courtyard (the first of which contains a single tree in its center; the second, a festive planting of flowers) seem unnecessary, except, perhaps, as party spaces.
Commissioned by a New York arts centre to write new scores for a set of Buster Keaton silents, the elliptical tunes which resulted met with such approval from US audiences that he did more, and then recorded some too.
The director's own adaptation pares the narration down to a series of short, sometimes elliptical scenes.
The asteroid moves around the sun in an elliptical orbit that ranges from inside of Venus' orbit to a bit outside Mars' orbit, he said.
The discovery, an elliptical ring, was made by a radio astronomer, Jacqueline N. Hewitt of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and was reported in the British journal Nature.
A reading passage about the elliptical orbits of comets sends me spinning.
The Titan's second stage, traveling at about the same speed as the satellite in the same elliptical orbit 90 to 190 miles above Earth, has until about Wednesday before falling back to Earth, said Maj. Thomas Niemann of the U.S. Space Command.
But again, the themes get tangled in Mr. Mahfouz's elliptical storytelling.
The $80 million satellite separated from the booster as planned less than an hour later and settled into an elliptical orbit 22,300 miles high.
Instead, the rocket placed them in an elliptical orbit 282 miles by 221 miles.
Business is like the Church, and just as hidebound: middle managers are 'the priests in an old hierarchy', corporate planners 'monks serving the priesthood of the management'. He can be elliptical.
His adventures in search of his father have the elliptical quality of a dream.