cone

1 of 2

noun

ˈkōn 

1

a

: a solid generated by rotating a right triangle about one of its legs

called also right circular cone

b

: a solid bounded by a circular or other closed plane base and the surface formed by line segments joining every point of the boundary of the base to a common vertex see Volume Formulas Table

c

: a surface traced by a moving straight line passing through a fixed vertex

2

a

: a mass of ovule-bearing or pollen-bearing scales or bracts in most conifers or in cycads that are arranged usually on a somewhat elongated axis

b

: any of several flower or fruit clusters suggesting a cone

3

: something that resembles a cone in shape: such as

a

: any of the conical photosensitive receptor cells of the vertebrate retina that function in color vision compare rod sense 3

b

: any of a family (Conidae) of tropical marine gastropod mollusks that inject their prey with a potent toxin

c

: the apex of a volcano

d

: a crisp usually cone-shaped wafer for holding ice cream

Illustration of cone

• 1 Sitka spruce
• 2 Japanese cedar
• 3 giant sequoia
• 4 white spruce
• 5 redwood
• 6 lodgepole pine
• 7 Douglas fir
• 8 bald cypress
• 9 jack pine

cone

2 of 2

verb

coned; coning

transitive verb

1

: to make cone-shaped

2

: to bevel like the slanting surface of a cone

cone a tire

Examples of cone in a Sentence

Noun

He scooped out the popcorn with a paper cone.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Or think of Seattle, with the Mariners selling those ice cream nachos featuring waffle cone pieces as the chips and soft serve with toppings filling out the tray. —Tim Newcomb, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2025

This forecast cone from the National Hurricane Center shows only the probable path of the center of a storm. —Thao Nguyen, USA Today, 8 Sep. 2025

In the early days, operating out of a small cart, Rossini served the cookies in paper cones, which couldn’t be folded up or stashed in a bag. —Hannah Goldfield, New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2025

Skateboarders speed down a course usually marked by plastic cones, trying to knock down the fewest cones in the fastest time. —Anne Gelhaus, Mercury News, 7 Sep. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun

borrowed from Middle French & Latin; Middle French, "cone in geometry," borrowed from Latin cōnus, borrowed from Greek kônos "pine cone, cone in geometry," probably of pre-Greek substratal origin

Verb

derivative of cone entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

1562, in the meaning defined at sense 2a

Verb

1845, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing cone

• cinder cone
• cone-like
• cone off
• growth cone
• ice-cream cone
• nose cone
• pine cone
• right circular cone
• shatter cone
• sno-cone
• snow cone
• traffic cone

Rhymes for cone

• blown
• clone
• crone
• drone
• flown
• groan
• grown
• hone
• joan
• known
• loan
• lone

Kids Definition

cone

noun

ˈkōn

1

: a mass of overlapping woody scales that especially in the pines and other conifers are arranged on a structure like a stem and produce seeds between them

also : any of several flower or fruit clusters resembling such cones

2

a

: a solid figure formed by rotating a right triangle about one of its legs

called also right circular cone

b

: a solid figure that slopes evenly to a point from a usually circular base

3

: something shaped like a cone: as

a

: any of the cells of the retina that are sensitive to light and function in color vision

b

: the tip of a volcano

c

: ice-cream cone

Medical Definition

cone

noun

ˈkōn 

1

: a solid having a circular base and sides that slope evenly to a point

2

a

: any of the conical photosensitive receptor cells of the vertebrate retina that function in color vision compare rod

b

: any of a family (Conidae) of numerous somewhat conical tropical gastropod mollusks that include a few highly poisonous forms see conus

3

: a cusp of a tooth especially in the upper jaw