From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishparabolapa‧rab‧o‧la /pəˈræbələ/ noun [countable] technicalHM a curve in the shape of the imaginary line an object makes when it is thrown high in the air and comes down a little distance away —parabolic /ˌpærəˈbɒlɪk◂ $ -ˈbɑː-/ adjective
Examples from the Corpus
parabola• Properties of a parabola All parabolas are similar.• An aeroplane is flown on a specifically curved path-a parabola.• The starlings were disturbed, swirling around in S-shapes and parabolas and unexpected clusters.• Modern architects are moving away from the divinity of the right angle to rhomboids, to rounded spaces and parabolas.• However the results give an approximate parabola with a minimum in the range of voltages studied.• For the path to be an exact parabola the direction of the force acting must not change.• Distance a locates the focus of the parabola on the x axis.• The parabola has the important property of reflecting to its focus all lines parallel to the x axis.Origin parabola (1500-1600) Modern Latin Greek parabole; → PARABLE 