TROPICAL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does tropical mean? 

• TROPICAL (adjective)
  The adjective TROPICAL has 4 senses:

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

2. of or relating to the tropics, or either tropic

3. characterized by or of the nature of a trope or tropes; changed from its literal sense

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

  Familiarity information: TROPICAL used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TROPICAL (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:

tropic (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)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Of or relating to the tropics, or either tropic

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Context example:

tropical year

Pertainym:

tropic (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)

Derivation:

tropic (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)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Characterized by or of the nature of a trope or tropes; changed from its literal sense

Similar:

figurative; nonliteral ((used of the meanings of words or text) not literal; using figures of speech)

Domain category:

rhetoric (study of the technique and rules for using language effectively (especially in public speaking))

Derivation:

trope (language used in a figurative or nonliteral sense)

Sense 4

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)

Derivation:

tropic (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)

 Context examples 

They also tested an unusual potential source of new OH: the enlargement of the tropical regions on Earth.

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

Shifts in tropical atmospheric circulation known as Hadley circulation led to changes in climate and vegetation, especially grasses, which expanded the mammals' range.

(Six million years ago, atmospheric shifts led to increased diversity of grassland mammals, National Science Foundation)

But I happen to know that Dr. Ainstree, the greatest living authority upon tropical disease, is now in London.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Per unit area, seagrass meadows can store up to twice as much carbon as the world's temperate and tropical forests.

(Sharks, the seagrass protectors, National Science Foundation)

In the north Australian city of Darwin, about 25,000 homes were also without power after a tropical cyclone felled trees.

(Australian Wildfires Destroy Homes, Kill Cattle as Hundreds of People Flee, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Marine life in the tropical western Pacific is even more vulnerable to these changes because of a seasonally stable environment.

(Pacific island fish migrating to cooler seas, SciDev.Net)

There are many unpainted buildings in tropical developing countries and such buildings are more prone to the problem.

(Smoother walls healthier for lungs, SciDev.Net)

The international team studied 367 fish species in 43 countries, and noticed that levels of calcium, iron and zinc — which are crucial to healthy development — were particularly high in tropical fish species.

(Fairer fish trade could fix nutrient deficiencies in coastal countries, SciDev.Net)

The team looked at samples collected during a research cruise to the tropical Pacific.

(Arsenic-breathing microbes discovered in the tropical Pacific Ocean, National Science Foundation)

A hurricane is a severe type of tropical storm.

(Hurricanes, Federal Emergency Management Agency)