helix
Americannoun
plural
helices, helixes-
a spiral.
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Geometry. the curve formed by a straight line drawn on a plane when that plane is wrapped around a cylindrical surface of any kind, especially a right circular cylinder, as the curve of a screw. Equation: x = a sinθ, y = a cosθ, z = b θ.
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Architecture.
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a spiral ornament.
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(in a Corinthian capital) either of two scrolls issuing from a cauliculus.
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Anatomy. the curved fold forming most of the rim of the external ear.
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Biochemistry. alpha helix.
noun
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a curve that lies on a cylinder or cone, at a constant angle to the line segments making up the surface; spiral
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a spiral shape or form
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the incurving fold that forms the margin of the external ear
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another name for volute
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any terrestrial gastropod mollusc of the genus Helix, which includes the garden snail ( H. aspersa )
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A three-dimensional spiral curve. In mathematical terms, a helix can be described as a curve turning about an axis on the surface of a cylinder or cone while rising at a constant upward angle from a base.
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Something, such as a strand of DNA, having a spiral shape.
Etymology
Origin of helix
1555–65; < Latin: a spiral, a kind of ivy < Greek hélix anything twisted; compare helíssein to turn, twist, roll
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Still, Harper and Yasmin’s existences are inextricably linked, gnarled together in a helix of favors and bargains.
From Salon
And so it goes in “The Last Kings of Hollywood,” as the lives and ambitions of Messrs. Coppola, Lucas and Spielberg entwine around one another in a triple helix.
You can look at friendship as a journey that is like a double helix: Sometimes you and a friend will be in sync financially or emotionally, and other times you’ll be out of alignment.
From MarketWatch
Electric current flowed more easily in one direction, and the effect could be reversed by changing the magnetization or switching the handedness of the helix.
From Science Daily
The authors have structured the work as a triple helix, and some of the most powerful moments occur when all three incarnations of the characters are on stage at the same time.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
