Hypertext Webster Gateway: "spheroidal"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Spheroidal \Sphe*roid"al\, a. [Cf. F. sph['e]ro["i]dal.]
Having the form of a spheroid. -- {Sphe*roid"al*ly}, adv.
{Spheroidal state} (Physics.), the state of a liquid, as
water, when, on being thrown on a surface of highly heated
metal, it rolls about in spheroidal drops or masses, at a
temperature several degrees below ebullition, and without
actual contact with the heated surface, -- a phenomenon
due to the repulsive force of heat, the intervention of a
cushion of nonconducting vapor, and the cooling effect of
evaporation.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
spheroidal
adj : in the form of an ellipse [syn: {ellipsoid}, {ellipsoidal},
{non-circular}]
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