Tangent Common

Tangent has 4 different meanings across 1 category:

Definitions

Noun

a straight line or plane that touches a curve or curved surface at a point but does not intersect it at that point

"The engineer drew a tangent to the circle's edge to calculate the exact angle of impact without crossing into the boundary."

tangent

ratio of the opposite to the adjacent side of a right-angled triangle

"To calculate the tangent, I measured the height and width of that right-angled triangle on my blueprint."

tangent tan

A straight line touching a curve at a single point without crossing it there.

"When drawing the graph, I placed my ruler carefully so that the edge touched the parabola's peak like a tangent without slicing through it."

Adjective

Touching a curve at a single point but not crossing it at that point.

"The engineer adjusted the road design so the new straight path was perfectly tangent to the circular bend, ensuring cars wouldn't slip off the edge."