Meaning

A small or narrow opening, gap, slit, or hole..

Definitions by Sense

1. A small or narrow opening, gap, slit, or hole.
2. (optics) A hole which restricts the diameter of the lightpath through one plane in an optical system.
3. (space flight, communication) The (typically) large-diameter antenna used for receiving and transmitting radio frequency energy containing the data used in communication satellites, especially in the geostationary belt. For a comsat, this is typically a large reflective dish antenna; sometimes called an array.
4. (mathematics, rare, of a right circular cone) The maximum angle between the two generatrices.

Example Sentences

an aperture in a wall

Were the larynx of the little creature like that of the parent, the milk might—probably would—enter the windpipe and cause suffocation : but the fœtal larynx is cone-shaped, with the opening at the apex, which projects, as in the whale-tribe, into the back aperture of the nostrils, where it is closely embraced by muscles of the ‘soft palate.’

In the centre of the fleshy membrane is an aperture leading into a deep cavity, at the bottom of which is placed a prominent piston that may be retracted by muscular fibres provided for the purpose.

The door was opened — ‘on the chain.’ The old lady peered at us through an aperture of about six inches.

If the generatrix makes an angle θ to the axis, then the aperture is 2θ.

Word Forms

• apertures

Related Words

When Should You Use Aperture?

Use aperture when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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