elliptical

adjective el·lip·ti·cal \ i-ˈlip-ti-kəl , e- \

variants: or elliptic play \i-ˈlip-tik, e-\

|Updated on: 11 Jun 2018

Examples: elliptical in a Sentence

Definition of elliptical

1 : of, relating to, or shaped like an ellipse

2 a : of, relating to, or marked by ellipsis or an ellipsis

b (1) : of, relating to, or marked by extreme economy of speech or writing

(2) : of or relating to deliberate obscurity (as of literary or conversational style)

—

elliptically

play \i-ˈlip-ti-k(ə-)lē, e-\ adverb

See elliptical defined for English-language learners

Examples of elliptical in a Sentence

The moon follows an elliptical path around the Earth.
a writer with an elliptical style

Recent Examples of elliptical from the Web

Equipment includes treadmills, dumbbells, elliptical machines, stationary bikes, and other machines.

— quoron walker, Courant Community, "Senior Fitness Center Grand Opening Is Here," 6 June 2018
The rest of the objects in the solar system, however, are pulled into elliptical orbits by the gravity of giant planets like Jupiter and Neptune.

— jason daley, Smithsonian, "Is the Mysterious Planet Nine Just a Swarm of Asteroids?," 6 June 2018
These mysterious objects never get close to giant planets such as Jupiter and Neptune, which tend to pull most of the material in the solar system into an elliptical orbit.

— jay bennett, Popular Mechanics, "A New Study Could Explain Away Some Evidence for Planet Nine," 4 June 2018
Come for the picture of DuVernay’s office, complete with her namesake Barbie doll; stay for the shot of Royce learning Spanish on his morning elliptical workout.

— rebecca keegan, HWD, "Oscar Voters Face Another Big Decision," 1 June 2018
Basically composed of short, elliptical scenes, this work's three parts were intended to be seen separately (which theatrical presentation makes impractical).

— patrick friel, Chicago Reader, "Books / Film / Foreign / History / On Video / Poetry Five literary biopics whose pictures are worth a thousand words," 30 May 2018
Nathan Taylor works out on an elliptical machine while Elaine Barnes monitors his vital signs.

— théoden janes, charlotteobserver, "His heart stopped. How it got working again is an amazing story. Was it luck, or God?," 28 May 2018
Sediment records have confirmed that Jupiter and Venus change the Earth's orbit from virtually circular to noticeably elliptical and back every 405,000 years.

— christopher intagliata, Scientific American, "Jupiter and Venus Squeeze Earth's Orbit," 10 May 2018
Many of their old training partners, hobbled by bad knees and arthritic hips, long ago hung up the running shoes for gentler workouts on the bike or elliptical machine.

— jc reindl, Detroit Free Press, "Detroit marathon 2017: These 4 runners make it 40 years in a row," 15 Oct. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'elliptical.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of elliptical

Greek elleiptikos defective, marked by ellipsis, from elleipein

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1656

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

elliptical Synonyms

elliptical

noun

Definition of elliptical

plural ellipticals

1 : elliptical galaxy

In Hubble's scheme, galaxies are divided into ellipticals and spirals.
—Roberto G. Abraham et al.

2 : elliptical trainer

Ellipticals move in a smooth, oval motion, like riding a bike standing up, and offer great features like your beloved treadmill.
—Monique Savin

Recent Examples of elliptical from the Web

The 16th-floor gym offered three treadmills, two ellipticals, one bike, a solid weight set, good sunrise views and homey touches like a bowl of apples.

— New York Times, "An Ottawa Hotel Is an Ode to Canada," 2 June 2018
Students at Ohio Ave are provided self-regulation tools like mini-ellipticals, trampolines, and glitter jars, which children can use to become centered during the school day.

— emily jan, The Atlantic, "The Students and Teachers Upending Traditional Approaches to Discipline," 12 May 2018
Cardio: Life Fitness and Woodway treadmills, ellipticals, and steppers. 2.

— katy schneider, The Cut, "Teyana Taylor’s Nail Salon, a New Gym From Chelsea Piers, and High-Design Seder Plates," 18 Mar. 2018
At the Sears in Fair Oaks Mall - which is now about 78,000 square feet, down from 145,000 square feet - dozens of ellipticals and treadmills were on display, as were hundreds of appliances, many of them wrapped in festive red bows.

— the washington post, NOLA.com, "Will the rapidly-shrinking store save retail?," 26 Dec. 2017
Technogym will also be building GymKit into all of its treadmills, ellipticals, stationary bikes, and stairsteppers in the future.

— valentina palladino, Ars Technica, "Everything you need to know about Apple’s GymKit, now out in the US," 13 Dec. 2017
For now, GymKit will only work with cardio machines like treadmills, ellipticals, indoor bikes, and stair-steppers from companies like Life Fitness, Technogym, Matrix, and Star Trac among others.

— Time, "Your Apple Watch is About to Become More Useful at the Gym," 12 Dec. 2017
The clubs will feature a variety of exercise equipment including treadmills, ellipticals, Arc trainers and stationary bikes — all pointed at 70-inch TVs.

— joyce smith, kansascity, "Planet Fitness is opening two more area locations," 12 Oct. 2017
The watch will be able to share information such as heart rate with treadmills, ellipticals, and more.

— valentina palladino, Ars Technica, "What to expect from Apple’s September 12 event," 8 Sep. 2017