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Definition of envelope
1 : a flat usually paper container (as for a letter)
2 : something that envelops : wrapper the envelope of air around the earth
3a : the outer covering of an aerostatb : the bag containing the gas in a balloon or airship
4a : a natural enclosing covering (such as a membrane, shell, or integument)b : a lipoprotein unit membrane that forms the outer layer of some virions
5a : a curve tangent to each of a family of curvesb : a surface tangent to each of a family of surfaces
6 : a set of performance limits (as of an aircraft) that may not be safely exceeded; also : the set of operating parameters that exists within these limits
7 : a conventionally accepted limit new computers that push the envelope
Indulge Your Inner Word Nerd
How do you pronounce envelope?
The \ˈen-\ and \ˈän-\ pronunciations are used with about equal frequency, and both are fully acceptable, though the \ˈän-\ version is sometimes decried as “pseudo-French.” Actually \ˈän-\ is exactly what one would expect to hear when a French word like entrepreneur is becoming anglicized. Envelope, however, has been in English for nearly 300 years, plenty of time for it to become completely anglicized and for both of its pronunciations to win respectability.
Recent Examples of envelope from the Web
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On occasion, I.R.S. agents were said to sit in the hallway and, knowing Cohn’s reputation as a deadbeat, were there to intercept any envelopes with money.
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On occasion, I.R.S. agents were said to sit in the hallway and, knowing Cohn’s reputation as a deadbeat, were there to intercept any envelopes with money.
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Alexander McQueen, led under the direction of Sarah Burton since McQueen's passing, has always pushed the envelope for women's fashion.
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Quickly, Miguel ducks down to retrieve the envelope holding his documents from ICE before the agent appears by his side.
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While the sample size is small, the results show Gorsuch’s commitment to follow the strict text of the law and a willingness to join Thomas in pushing the envelope further than the court’s other conservatives.
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And few have pushed the envelope as aggressively as Michael Bay’s Transformers franchise.
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Francis ingratiated himself with senior officers and contracting personnel by throwing extravagant parties with prostitutes and, in some cases, bribing Navy officials with envelopes of cash.
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However, the envelope started collapsing and the burners were still burning the residual fuel.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'envelope'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
First Known Use of envelope
circa 1714
Other Paper Terms
folio, palimpsest, quire, ream
ENVELOPE Defined for English Language Learners
envelope
playDefinition of envelope for English Language Learners
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: an enclosing cover for a letter, card, etc.
ENVELOPE Defined for Kids
envelope
playDefinition of envelope for Students
: a flat usually paper container (as for a letter)
Medical Dictionary
Medical Definition of envelope
: a natural enclosing covering (as a membrane or integument); especially : a lipoprotein unit membrane that forms the outer layer of some virions and surrounds the viral capsid These glycoprotein complexes, swept up by the budding virus as it acquires its envelope, are crucial to HIV's ability to infect new cells.—William A. Haseltine et al., Scientific American, October 1988
Learn More about envelope
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See words that rhyme with envelope Spanish Central: Translation of envelope Nglish: Translation of envelope for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of envelope for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about envelope
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