CONCAVE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does concave mean? 

• CONCAVE (adjective)
  The adjective CONCAVE has 1 sense:

1. curving inward

  Familiarity information: CONCAVE used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CONCAVE (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Curving inward

Similar:

acetabular; cotyloid; cotyloidal (of the cup-shaped socket that receives the head of the thigh bone)

biconcave; concavo-concave (concave on both sides)

boat-shaped (having a concave shape like a boat)

bowl-shaped (having a concave shape with an open top like a bowl)

bursiform; pouch-shaped; pouchlike; saclike (shaped like a pouch)

concavo-convex (concave on one side and convex on the other with the concavity being greater than the convexity)

cuplike (resembling the shape of a cup)

cupular; cupulate (shaped like (or supporting) a cupule)

dish-shaped; dished; patelliform (shaped like a dish or pan)

planoconcave (flat on one side and concave on the other)

recessed (resembling an alcove)

saucer-shaped (having a concave shape like a saucer)

umbilicate (depressed like a navel)

urn-shaped (having a concave shape like an urn)

Also:

intrusive (thrusting inward)

Antonym:

convex (curving or bulging outward)

Derivation:

concaveness; concavity (the property possessed by a concave shape)

concavity (a shape that curves or bends inward)

 Context examples 

The large smooth and concave surface of the ilium.

(Iliac Fossa, NCI Thesaurus)

It is concave in shape and extends from the cardiac orifice to the pyloric orifice.

(Lesser Curvature of the Stomach, NCI Thesaurus)

The concave side of the lymph node.

(Lymph Node Hilum, NCI Thesaurus)

You will perceive, Watson, that the glasses are concave and of unusual strength.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The concave area of the kidney through which the renal artery enters and the renal vein and ureter exit the organ.

(Hilar Area of the Kidney, NCI Thesaurus)

The shell consists of two concave pieces of wafer made of flour and water.

(Cachet Dosage Form, NCI Thesaurus)

The bottom concave portion of the lung that is situated on the convexity of the diaphragm.

(Base of the Lung, NCI Thesaurus)

In the middle of the concave side, there is a groove twelve inches deep, in which the extremities of the axle are lodged, and turned round as there is occasion.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Each lung is irregularly conical in shape, presenting a blunt upper extremity (the apex), a concave base following the curve of the diaphragm, an outer convex surface (costal surface), an inner or mediastinal surface (mediastinal surface), a thin and sharp anterior border, and a thick and rounded posterior border.

(Lung, NCI Thesaurus)