x-axis
noun
x-ax·is
ˈeks-ˌak-səs 
1
: the axis in a plane Cartesian coordinate system parallel to which abscissas are measured
2
: one of the three axes in a three-dimensional rectangular coordinate system
Examples of x-axis in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Result: the murderer could only have been Person B, on the x-axis.
—
Sarah Larson, The New Yorker, 21 Mar. 2025
There is a bar for each year on the x-axis whose length represents the average number of minutes change in time spent at home as compared to the same statistic in 2003.
—The Learning Network, New York Times, 9 Jan. 2025
Instead, think of a vector positioned in the x-y plane and canted at 45 degrees to the x-axis.
—IEEE Spectrum, 15 Nov. 2018
On the x-axis: our estimates for the 2020 vote choice of the same special electorates, based on exactly who voted and our previous estimates for the likelihood that registered voters backed Mr. Biden in 2020.
—The Upshot Staff, New York Times, 30 Dec. 2024
Ride only the x-axis and, eventually, all the sprinting entrances and exits and panting, gasping line deliveries in the world won’t save you.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 14 Nov. 2024
Complex numbers can be plotted on a plane, with the real part on the x-axis and the imaginary part on the y-axis.
—Jordana Cepelewicz, WIRED, 4 Aug. 2024
That’s because the roots of a function occur where its graph crosses the horizontal line y=0 (the x-axis), and in general, those intersections aren’t symmetric about the cubic’s special point of symmetry.
—Patrick Honner, Quanta Magazine, 24 Mar. 2023
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Sarah Larson, The New Yorker, 21 Mar. 2025
There is a bar for each year on the x-axis whose length represents the average number of minutes change in time spent at home as compared to the same statistic in 2003.
—The Learning Network, New York Times, 9 Jan. 2025
Instead, think of a vector positioned in the x-y plane and canted at 45 degrees to the x-axis.
—IEEE Spectrum, 15 Nov. 2018
On the x-axis: our estimates for the 2020 vote choice of the same special electorates, based on exactly who voted and our previous estimates for the likelihood that registered voters backed Mr. Biden in 2020.
—The Upshot Staff, New York Times, 30 Dec. 2024
Ride only the x-axis and, eventually, all the sprinting entrances and exits and panting, gasping line deliveries in the world won’t save you.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 14 Nov. 2024
Complex numbers can be plotted on a plane, with the real part on the x-axis and the imaginary part on the y-axis.
—Jordana Cepelewicz, WIRED, 4 Aug. 2024
That’s because the roots of a function occur where its graph crosses the horizontal line y=0 (the x-axis), and in general, those intersections aren’t symmetric about the cubic’s special point of symmetry.
—Patrick Honner, Quanta Magazine, 24 Mar. 2023
Cite this Entry
“X-axis.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/x-axis. Accessed 14 Jul. 2025.
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