Word.ws English Dictionary

helicline

/ˈhɛlɪˌklaɪn/

helicline noun: a curving or spiral-shaped ramp; (especially) the ramp at the 1939 New York World's Fair Theme Center.

helicline: a curving or spiral-shaped ramp; (especially) the ramp at the 1939 New York World's Fair Theme...
Image: Wmpearl, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

helicline (plural heliclines)

  1. (uncommon) A curving or spiral-shaped ramp; (especially) the ramp at the 1939 New York World's Fair Theme Center.
    • A bridge will link the sphere to the tower, while from the latter a ramp 900 ft. long will slope gently to the ground curving around the fountain basis beneath the sphere in a huge three-quarter circle. This ramp is described as the “helicline,” and will be 50 ft. high at the top1937 March 25, “Fair Designers Make Theme Building Plans”, in The Iron Age, page 62
    • We have heard rumours of several good buildings at the Fair, but the newscuttings have not so far found time to tell us about them among attractions so sensational that no previously known words would cover them. “Democracity” is studded with Trylons and Perispheres, slides on Heliclines and...1939 May 11, “Notes & Topics”, in The Architects' Journal, page 758

Examples of helicline in a sentence

  • “Democracity” is studded with Trylons and Perispheres, slides on Heliclines and sploshes in Aquacades.1939 May 11, “Notes & Topics”, in The Architects' Journal, page 758:
  • Stepping to the helicline of the flood-lighted Perisphere at the New York World's Fair at midnight Sunday, an Army bugler sounded taps, signalizing the beginning of an epic grand finale.1940 November 4, “Taps for the Fair”, in Newsweek, page 19:
  • The Perisphere housed the exhibit, where visitors entered by means of “the world’s longest escalator,” and exited down a 950-foot ramp, called the Helicline.1999, “Max Abromovitz”, in Encyclopedia of World Biography Supplement, volume 18, page 1:
  • stepped ramp ¶ A series of ramps connected by steps.¶ helicline ¶ A curved ramp.[2011, Francis D.K. Ching, A Visual Dictionary Of Architecture, page 239:

Forms of helicline

pluralheliclines

Origin of helicline

Blend of helico- + incline or combination of heli- + -cline, from Ancient Greek ἕλιξ (hélix, “spiral”). Attested from the 1930s (see quotations below).

Questions about helicline

What does helicline mean?
Helicline means a curving or spiral-shaped ramp; (especially) the ramp at the 1939 New York World's Fair Theme Center.
How do you use helicline in a sentence?
“Democracity” is studded with Trylons and Perispheres, slides on Heliclines and sploshes in Aquacades.
What part of speech is helicline?
Helicline is a noun.
How do you pronounce helicline?
Helicline is pronounced /ˈhɛlɪˌklaɪn/.
What is the plural of helicline?
The plural of helicline is heliclines.

Words near helicline in the dictionary

  1. helicinids
  2. heliciphagous
  3. helicitic
  4. helicities
  5. helicity
  6. helicline
  7. heliclines
  8. helico-
  9. helicobacter
  10. helicobacteremia
  11. helicobactericidal

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: helicline (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “helicline.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/helicline. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.