inclined plane

noun

: a plane surface that makes an oblique angle with the plane of the horizon

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web The inclined plane is the simplest of the simple machines, but it's been instrumental in everything from (most likely) building the Pyramids to making canals navigable. —

Discover Magazine, 4 Aug. 2011 Or, as Lee has field-tested, they could be placed on sleds and moved up an inclined plane along a ladder-like apparatus, levered from one wrung to the next. —

Cody Cottier, Discover Magazine, 18 Mar. 2021 This suggests, at least to some researchers, that flapping up an inclined plane could have been a bridge between running and flying. —

Discover Magazine, 4 Aug. 2011 Salvage experts turned to parbuckling — using a sling to right a vessel on an inclined plane. —

Jim Sullivan, Discover Magazine, 15 Jan. 2014 The threads are a form of inclined plane or wedge, the simplest type of tool. —

Popular Mechanics Editors, Popular Mechanics, 21 May 2021 The threads are a form of inclined plane or wedge, the simplest type of tool. —

Popular Mechanics Editors, Popular Mechanics, 21 May 2021 See More

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

Word History

First Known Use

1661, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of inclined plane was in 1661

See more words from the same year

Cite this Entry

Style

“Inclined plane.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inclined%20plane. Accessed 28 Mar. 2023.

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