Elongation

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Elongation \E`lon*ga"tion\ (?; 277), n. [LL. elongatio: cf. F.
     ['e]longation.]
     1. The act of lengthening, or the state of being lengthened;
        protraction; extension. "Elongation of the fibers."
        --Arbuthnot.
        [1913 Webster]


  
     2. That which lengthens out; continuation.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              May not the mountains of Westmoreland and Cumberland
              be considered as elongations of these two chains?
                                                    --Pinkerton.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. Removal to a distance; withdrawal; a being at a distance;
        distance.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The distant points in the celestial expanse appear
              to the eye in so small a degree of elongation from
              one another, as bears no proportion to what is real.
                                                    --Glanvill.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. (Astron.) The angular distance of a planet from the sun;
        as, the elongation of Venus or Mercury.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  elongation
       n 1: the quality of being elongated
       2: an addition to the length of something [syn: {extension}]
       3: the act of lengthening something