Contour
['kɒntʊə] or ['kɑntʊr]
Definition
(noun.) a feature (or the order or arrangement of features) of anything having a complex structure; 'the contours of the melody'; 'it defines a major contour of this administration'.
(noun.) a line drawn on a map connecting points of equal height.
(verb.) form the contours of.
Edited by Jason--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) The outline of a figure or body, or the line or lines representing such an outline; the line that bounds; periphery.
(n.) The outline of a horizontal section of the ground, or of works of fortification.
Edited by Hattie
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. Outline, profile.
Editor: Marilyn
Synonyms and Antonyms
[See CONFIGURATION]
Checked by Jessie
Definition
n. the outline: the line which bounds the figure of any object.—v.t. to mark with contour lines.—Contour lines lines drawn in a map through points all at the same height above sea-level—usually on the British Ordnance Survey maps at intervals of 50 feet.
Checker: Tessie
Examples
- High above this to the right, and much nearer thitherward than the Quiet Woman Inn, the blurred contour of Rainbarrow obstructed the sky. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- A vast shadow, in which could be dimly traced portions of a masculine contour, blotted half the ceiling. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- These guns were distinguishable by the smooth bulbous breech of great thickness and curvilinear contour. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- The shape standing before me had never crossed my eyes within the precincts of Thornfield Hall before; the height, the contour were new to me. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- This siphon is vibrated by the electric impulses to produce on the paper strip a zigzag line, whose varying contour is made to represent letters. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- Thereupon the contour of a man became dimly visible against the low-reaching sky over the valley, beyond the outer margin of the pool. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- His bones were strong and round, his limbs were rounded, all his contours were beautifully and fully moulded. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- Had his brain unfolded under sharper contours they would have said, A thoughtful man. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- Listen, _guapa_, said Pilar and ran her finger now absently but tracingly over the contours of her cheeks. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- They began to make camps with walls of earth and palisades, many of which are still to be traced in the history-worn contours of the European scenery. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
Editor: Luke