oval
/ˈəʊv(ə)l
/adjective
Having a rounded and slightly elongated outline or shape like that of an egg: her smooth oval face...
- It has oval leaves with a slightly serrated edge.
- Men's models have slightly oval forms with double bridges, slim metal temples and steel fronts.
- Its convex, roughened dorsal surface has a mediolateral elongated oval outline.
Synonyms
egg-shaped, ovoid, ovate, oviform, elliptical, ellipsoidal
technical obovate
noun
1A body, object, or design with an oval shape or outline: cut out two small ovals from the felt...
- Cross-sections are in the shape of circles, ovals, squares, rectangles, equilateral triangles or regular polygons.
- The photographs will be imprinted on the pendants which can be made in four shapes - heart, oval, circle and hexagon.
- As oil became the dominant medium, so the size of the palette increased, varying from batlike shapes to rectangles and ovals, often varying in thickness from tip to handle to improve the balance.
1.1An oval sports field or racing track.I just felt that racing full time on ovals wasn't something that I wanted to do....
- In Champ cars we race on road courses, street tracks and ovals and the guy that can cope best on all types of track will take the title.
- Wainman, who was the 1979 World Champion, took part in the event last year, which will give him an advantage on the tight indoor racing oval.
1.2Australian A ground for Australian Rules football.A sign of team strength and unity, following the parade it is strategically placed at the football oval in front of the team enclosure....
- He followed her and saw her disappearing into the distance, so he quickly looked around and decided to cut through a football oval.
- Except they couldn't find a golf course so Bobby took them to the football oval and told them it was a driving range.
Derivatives
ovality
- This provides measurements of both average outside diameter and ovality with a resolution of 1 m.
ovalness
- In this study, three groups of people with different degrees of myopia were assessed for optic disc ovalness, refractive error and axial length.
ovally
Origin
Mid 16th century: from French, or modern Latin ovalis, from Latin ovum 'egg'.
When we say that something is oval, we are calling it ‘egg-shaped’. The word goes back to Latin ovum ‘egg’, also the source of ovary (mid 17th century). The Oval is an oval cricket ground in Kennington, south London, opened in 1846, the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club. The Oval Office is the informal name for the oval-shaped private office of the president of the United States, used since the 1960s.