How to use catenary in a sentence

11 example sentences · adjective, noun

Catenary means relating to a chain; like a chain. Example: “In Europe, the organizer was the hostess and her principle was catenary.”

Examples of catenary by meaning

adjectiveRelating to a chain; like a chain.

In Europe, the organizer was the hostess and her principle was catenary.1997, S.A.M. Adshead, Material Culture in Europe and China, 1400–1800: The Rise of Consumerism, →ISBN
The structure of the model chosen was catenary, and only one nonlinearity was introduced, in that part of the model representing bone growth.1983, Keith Godfrey, Compartmental Models and Their Application, page 242

adjectiveRelating to a catena.

The sequence of soils of a more or less catenary nature as seen on the Martin Estate is about as follows :1960, Kenya. Dept. of Agriculture, Soil Survey of the Songhor Area, Kenya, page 93

nounA cable, the segments of which between supports take a catenary geometric shape, supporting in turn an overhead...

The result was catenary being torn down several hundred feet at a time.1958, The Railway Review: An Intelligent Survey of Transit News and Trends
The colour-lights showed up much better than the semaphores which, in spite of their approach warning boards, are not readily visible at any distance between the supports for the catenaries.1962 April, P. W. B. Semmens, “The Netherlands Railways today”, in Modern Railways, page 241
The electric overhead was catenary, using 0000 contact wire, and the new railway employed the latest in electric block signal systems.1977, Paul Castelhun Trimble, Interurban Railways of the Bay Area, page 119

More sentences with catenary

At all terminal stations, where running speeds are low, fixed termination simple catenary equipment has been installed.1959 June, “Clacton and Walton Electrification”, in Railway Magazine, page 379. From the entry termination
Already the large superelliptical pool has conferred upon Stockholm an unusual mathematical flavor, like the big catenary curve of St.1975, Martin Gardner, Mathematical carnival, page 243. From the entry superelliptical
While the rolling-stock lacks modernity, the line equipment, with its single catenary suspension, has a surprisingly up-to-date appearance.1944 November and December, “Notes and News: Lancaster-Heysham Electrification, L.M.S.”, in Railway Magazine, page 372. From the entry modernity
He wears a minimal white cotton brief, and is pleased by the hance of its pouch, a catenary dip as he faces the mirror, the profile navicular and ostent.1974, Guy Davenport, Tatlin!. From the entry hance
Like rheostatic braking, this uses the traction motors to provide a braking effort, but the current developed is fed back into the overhead catenary rather than dissipated through resistance banks.2023 July 26, David Clough, “Technology progression defines Class 93”, in RAIL, number 988, page 54. From the entry dissipate

Meaning of catenary

adjective Relating to a chain; like a chain.
adjective Relating to a catena.
noun The curve described by a flexible chain or a rope if it is supported at each end and is acted upon by no other forces than a uniform gravitational force due to its own weight and variations involving additional and non-uniform forces. It is described by the hyperbolic cosine function.

Full definition of catenary

Questions about catenary in a sentence

How do you use catenary in a sentence?: Catenary is used as an adjective and noun. For example: “In Europe, the organizer was the hostess and her principle was catenary.”
What is a short sentence with catenary?: “In Europe, the organizer was the hostess and her principle was catenary.”
What does catenary mean?: Catenary means relating to a chain; like a chain.

Adapted from Wiktionary: catenary (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use catenary in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/catenary. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.