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catenary

[kat-n-er-ee, kuh-tee-nuh-ree] / ˈkæt nˌɛr i, kəˈti nə ri /


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Its form is that of the catenary curve, the most perfect shape for an arch, and the only one that requires no buttressing from the side.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 27, 2026

Agnoli, who worked as a carpenter prior to entering architecture, used long spans of wood to create massive trusses and spiraling nautilus shapesand formed brick into catenary arches.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 6, 2025

“I see the stations, the empty parking spaces, the catenary wires that power the trains, and think surely we should put it to use,” Sound Transit board member Claudia Balducci, of Bellevue, said last week.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 9, 2022

Officials say outside of major projects, the corridor also needs to address basic infrastructure needs, such as improvements to track, signal systems and electric catenary systems that are beyond their useful lives.

From Washington Post • Nov. 8, 2021

In his advocacy of placing steel to simulate a catenary curve, with end anchorage, the author is more nearly correct than in other issues he makes.

From Some Mooted Questions in Reinforced Concrete Design American Society of Civil Engineers, Transactions, Paper No. 1169, Volume LXX, Dec. 1910 by Godfrey, Edward




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