TROPIC

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does tropic mean? 

• TROPIC (noun)
  The noun TROPIC has 1 sense:

1. either of two parallels of latitude about 23.5 degrees to the north and south of the equator representing the points farthest north and south at which the sun can shine directly overhead and constituting the boundaries of the Torrid Zone or tropics

  Familiarity information: TROPIC used as a noun is very rare.

• TROPIC (adjective)
  The adjective TROPIC has 2 senses:

1. relating to or situated in or characteristic of the tropics (the region on either side of the equator)

2. of weather or climate; hot and humid as in the tropics

  Familiarity information: TROPIC used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TROPIC (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Either of two parallels of latitude about 23.5 degrees to the north and south of the equator representing the points farthest north and south at which the sun can shine directly overhead and constituting the boundaries of the Torrid Zone or tropics

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Hypernyms ("tropic" is a kind of...):

latitude; line of latitude; parallel; parallel of latitude (an imaginary line around the Earth parallel to the equator)

Instance hyponyms:

Tropic of Cancer (a line of latitude about 23 degrees to the north of the equator)

Tropic of Capricorn (a line of latitude about 23 degrees to the south of the equator)

Derivation:

tropical (of weather or climate; hot and humid as in the tropics)

tropical (relating to or situated in or characteristic of the tropics (the region on either side of the equator))

tropical (of or relating to the tropics, or either tropic)

• TROPIC (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Relating to or situated in or characteristic of the tropics (the region on either side of the equator)

Synonyms:

tropic; tropical

Context example:

tropical fruit

Similar:

equatorial (of or existing at or near the geographic equator)

Derivation:

tropics (the part of the Earth's surface between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn; characterized by a hot climate)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Of weather or climate; hot and humid as in the tropics

Synonyms:

tropic; tropical

Context example:

tropical weather

Similar:

hot (used of physical heat; having a high or higher than desirable temperature or giving off heat or feeling or causing a sensation of heat or burning)

 Context examples 

They also function as fusion cofactors for macrophage-tropic HIV-1 strains.

(CKR5, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

It also functions as a co-factor for macrophage-tropic HIV-1 infection.

(CKR5, NCI Thesaurus)

That's because these models underestimate decreases in high clouds over the tropics seen in recent NASA observations.

(NASA Data Suggest Future May Be Rainier Than Expected, NASA)

"This is a big problem because the majority of plant and animal species occur in the tropics," Román-Palacios said.

(One-third of plant and animal species could be gone in 50 years, National Science Foundation)

Early in the infection of an individual, HIV viruses often are tropic for the CCR5 coreceptor that provides for macrophage entry, then later in infection are tropic for CXCR4 and T cell entry.

(CXCR4 Signaling Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

During an El Niño event, warm sea surface temperatures spread across the tropics.

(Ocean temperatures may hold key to predicting tornado outbreaks, NOAA)

Ancient Venus had more dry land overall than Earth, especially in the tropics.

(NASA Climate Modeling Suggests Venus May Have Been Habitable, NASA)

Over the tropics, water vapor and ultraviolet sunlight are plentiful.

(Greenhouse Gas ‘Detergent’ Recycles Itself in Atmosphere, NASA)

"We've had this western conceit that complex civilizations can't flourish in the tropics, that the tropics are where civilizations go to die," Canuto told National Geographic.

(Hidden Mayan Civilization Revealed in Guatemala Jungle, VOA)

"Me for the tropics and no clothes," Martin laughed.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)