as in oval
a shape that resembles a flattened circle
The teacher drew an ellipse on the chalkboard that intended to illustrate the moon's orbit around the Earth.
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Recent Examples of ellipse
In our seminar, Bolin later showed a visualization of 3I/ATLAS's orbit around the galaxy — no neat ellipse, but rather a looping, spiraling path distorted by encounters with gas clouds, spiral arms and dark matter.
—
Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, Space.com, 2 Dec. 2025
Since the moon’s orbit around the Earth is not a perfect circle but rather an ellipse or oval, the moon’s distance from Earth can vary in its orbit, but not all that much.
—Mike Lynch, Twin Cities, 5 Oct. 2025
The moon’s orbital path around Earth is a slight ellipse, so there’s a near-point (perigee) and a far-point (apogee) every month.
—Jamie Carter, Forbes, 13 Oct. 2024
The above pic shows how the landing target for the rover, also known as Curiosity, has been changed: from an ellipse 20 kilometers by 25 kilometers, the new target is just 7 kilometers by 20 kilometers.
—IEEE Spectrum, 12 June 2012
See All Example Sentences for ellipse
Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, Space.com, 2 Dec. 2025
Since the moon’s orbit around the Earth is not a perfect circle but rather an ellipse or oval, the moon’s distance from Earth can vary in its orbit, but not all that much.
—Mike Lynch, Twin Cities, 5 Oct. 2025
The moon’s orbital path around Earth is a slight ellipse, so there’s a near-point (perigee) and a far-point (apogee) every month.
—Jamie Carter, Forbes, 13 Oct. 2024
The above pic shows how the landing target for the rover, also known as Curiosity, has been changed: from an ellipse 20 kilometers by 25 kilometers, the new target is just 7 kilometers by 20 kilometers.
—IEEE Spectrum, 12 June 2012
See All Example Sentences for ellipse
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ellipse
Noun
-
Square nails are often associated with longer lengths because a lot of folks are under the impression that the more blunt shape can make short nails look wider and stubbier, favoring rounded, oval, or squoval shapes for a less-long manicure.—
Marci Robin,
Allure,
10 June 2026
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No outfit is complete without the right accessories, and Bieber pulled everything together with oval sunglasses with black frames just like this Quince pair.—
Rachel Trujillo,
PEOPLE,
9 June 2026
Noun
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Later, at the Spurs hotel five blocks from the arena, someone hurled an egg at star Spurs center Victor Wembanyama, but missed.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
13 June 2026
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The most horrifying fact Garcia shared was that a wound as tiny as a tick bite or a scratch can attract a female screwfly to lay her eggs.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
13 June 2026
Noun
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Place an orb light on the bottom shelf to lend your bedroom a cozy glow.—
Yelena Moroz Alpert,
Architectural Digest,
12 June 2026
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According to the documents, the objects appeared above a ridgeline and, in some instances, seemed to generate additional smaller orbs.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
12 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Ellipse.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ellipse. Accessed 14 Jun. 2026.
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