Hypertext Webster Gateway: "envelope"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Envelope \En"vel*ope\ (?; 277), Envelop \En*vel"op\ (?; 277), n.
[F. enveloppe.]
1. That which envelops, wraps up, encases, or surrounds; a
wrapper; an inclosing cover; esp., the cover or wrapper of
a document, as of a letter.
2. (Astron.) The nebulous covering of the head or nucleus of
a comet; -- called also {coma}.
3. (Fort.) A work of earth, in the form of a single parapet
or of a small rampart. It is sometimes raised in the ditch
and sometimes beyond it. --Wilhelm.
4. (Geom.) A curve or surface which is tangent to each member
of a system of curves or surfaces, the form and position
of the members of the system being allowed to vary
according to some continuous law. Thus, any curve is the
envelope of its tangents.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
envelope
n 1: a flat rectangular paper container for papers
2: any wrapper or covering
3: a curve that is tangent to each of a family of curves
4: a natural covering (as by a fluid); "the spacecraft detected
an envelope of gas around the comet"
5: the maximum operating capability of a system; "test pilots
try to push the envelope"
6: the bag containing the gas in a balloon [syn: {gasbag}]
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