contournoun [ C ]
uk/ˈkɒn.tɔːr/us/ˈkɑːn.tʊr/the shape of a mass of land or other object, especially its surface or the shape formed by its outer edge:
the rugged contour of the coast
He studied the contours of her face.
Her latest collection of swimwear shows off the contours of the human body to perfection.
specialized also contour line geography a line on a map that joins points of equal height or depth, in a way that shows high and low areas of land:
a 400 ft contour line
This map has contours marked at 250-metre intervals.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Patterns and shapes
- amorphous
- arabesque
- argyle
- bar
- cake
- geometry
- grain
- marbled
- misshapen
- motif
- mottled
- paisley
- silhouette
- spotted
- streak
- stripe
- striped
- stripy
- styloid
- take shape idiom
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Maps & map-making