: a solid generated by rotating a right triangle about one of its legs
called alsoright 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 rodsense 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
Noun
He scooped out the popcorn with a paper cone.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Who hasn’t gotten up in the morning or home in the evening to find all the parking spots blocked off with cones, or giant humming trailers sitting everywhere, or young people with walkie talkies who act polite but are somehow obnoxious asking you not to walk on your own street?—Peter Madonia, New York Daily News, 12 July 2024 For ice cream—a food group in which Massachusetts excels—Juice Bar is a classic for an oversized scoop of chocolate Oreo ice cream in a fresh, buttery waffle cone.—Alex Erdekian, Condé Nast Traveler, 12 July 2024
Verb
From cow to cone The Penn State Ice Cream Short Course has a 132-year history.—Amanda Hobor, CNN, 2 July 2024 Klondike enters with Klondike Cones Chocolate Bites waffle cones with Belgian chocolate.—Cheryl V. Jackson, The Indianapolis Star, 16 May 2024 See all Example Sentences for cone
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cone.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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
: 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 alsoright 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
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