Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use perpendicular in a sentence

34 example sentences · adjective, noun

Perpendicular means at or forming a right angle (to something). Example: “In most houses, the walls are perpendicular to the floor.”

Examples of perpendicular by meaning

adjectiveAt or forming a right angle (to something).

  • In most houses, the walls are perpendicular to the floor.
  • Applying a force tangential to the knob is essentially equivalent to applying one perpendicular to a radial line defining the lever.2012 March, Henry Petroski, “Opening Doors”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, pages 112–3

adjectiveIndependent of or irrelevant to each other; orthogonal.

  • This is completely perpendicular sabotage!2019 May 31, David M. Willis, “Wrangled”, in Dumbing of Age

More sentences with perpendicular

  • The perpendicular height of a triangle is known as its altitude.From the entry altitude
  • The anteroposterior axis was perpendicular to the plane defined by the superoinferior axis and the transcondylar axis.2015 September 24, “Effect of Laterally Wedged Insoles on the External Knee Adduction Moment across Different Reference Frames”, in PLOS…. From the entry transcondylar
  • The anteroposterior axis was perpendicular to the plane defined by the superoinferior axis and the transmalleolar axis.2015 September 24, “Effect of Laterally Wedged Insoles on the External Knee Adduction Moment across Different Reference Frames”, in PLOS…. From the entry transmalleolar
  • Perpendicular to this one, we would all be made of anti-matter. 1+1 would be -2.1996 April 2, t0...@unb.ca, “Perpendicular universes”, in alt.parallel.universes (Usenet), message-ID <t0kx.128.31615DFA@unb.ca>. From the entry perpendicular universe
  • Both basal-oriented and edge-oriented (basal planes perpendicular to the surface) samples of pyroid were implanted.1976, Manfred Kaminsky, Radiation Effects on Solid Surfaces, page 99. From the entry pyroid
  • The decoration found on the stems are perpendicular ribbings, ordinary rounded mouldings, and perpendicular lobings.1919, MacIver Percival, The Glass Collector: A Guide to Old English Glass, page 31. From the entry ribbing
  • Magnetic fields aligned more parallel in the subvirial cloud and more perpendicular in the denser, marginally bound cloud.2016, Mikhail Klassen, Ralph E. Pudritz, Helen Kirk, “Filamentary flow and magnetic geometry in evolving cluster-forming molecular cloud…. From the entry subvirial
  • On one side of the radial edge, the conchoidal fractures form right angles, that is, form a perpendicular with the edge.2011, Robert C Shaler, Crime Scene Forensics: A Scientific Method Approach, page 479. From the entry conchoidal
  • Parallel parking is preferred to perpendicular and oblique because it is safe for vehicles moving on the road.2011, R. V. Raikar, Elements of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, →ISBN, page 19. From the entry parallel parking
  • Well, there are also perpendicular universes--universes that cross over with ours at one point and one point only.2008, Marvel Zombies 3, 1, page 16. From the entry perpendicular universe
  • The basic structure of the villa is aulic, with perpendicular rooms at either end of the main hall.2004, Michael Kulikowski, Late Roman Spain and Its Cities, page 303. From the entry aulic
  • Two hyperparallel lines have one and only one common perpendicular.1995, Howard Eves, College Geometry, page 246. From the entry hyperparallel
  • Generally, shot point data have less overposting when the data is posted perpendicular to the orientation of the seismic line.1992, Denver GeoTech ...: Proceedings, page 171. From the entry overpost
  • If possible the limbs should be in corresponding positions and preferably perpendicular to the interspinal line (Fig. 3–34).1984, Michael Harty, “The Anatomy of the Hip Joint”, in Raymund G. Tronzo, editor, Surgery of the Hip Joint, 2nd edition, volume 1, New…. From the entry interspinal
  • Finally, ortholinear copulas with a given diagonal section are copulas that are linear on line segments perpendicular to the main diagonal of the unit square.2012, Salvatore Greco, Bernadette Bouchon-Meunier, Giulianella Coletti, Advances in Computational Intelligence, page 175. From the entry ortholinear
  • When you false-cast with a side cast, your 9:00-to-1:00 power strokes can be nearly parallel to the water instead of perpendicular to it.2007, Tom Rosenbauer, Orvis Fly-Fishing Guide, →ISBN. From the entry side cast
  • This age correction was calculated by linearly interpolating the offsets perpendicular to isoenhancement lines between models with ages of 3, 8, and 15 Gyr.2004, Justin H. Howell, Star Formation Histories of Nearby Elliptical Galaxies, page 19. From the entry isoenhancement
  • Thin sections of calcite flowstone cut perpendicular to crenulations show that these are formed of fibrous calcite crystals in bundles normal to the surface (T.1997, Carol A. Hill, Paolo Forti, Cave Minerals of the World, page 71. From the entry microgour
  • The radii of gyration parallel and perpendicular to the director are obtained from macroscopically aligned samples by using a two-dimensional detection method.1989, Christine Boeffel, Hans Wolfgang Spiess, “8: NMR methods for studying molecular order and motion in liquid crystalline side group…. From the entry radius of gyration
  • The dethatcher has blades that cut perpendicular to the lawn, thereby removing the dead debris called thatch, which can easily build up in a lawn.1988, Stefan Buczacki, Conran's basic book of home gardening. From the entry dethatcher
  • Too close to the perpendicular, and silt will build up behind the waterbar; too small an angle will cause the trail to wash out.1987, Thomas H. Mikkelsen, Donald B. Neuwirth, Jake Widman, Public Beaches: An Owners' Manual, page 29. From the entry waterbar
  • The prefactor preceding the sum is the constant density of states associated with two-dimensional motion for each state n of perpendicular motion.1980, William E. Carlos, Milton W. Cole, “Band structure and thermodynamic properties of He atoms near a graphite surface”, in Physical…. From the entry prefactor
  • Both physical arguments and simulations of the global heliosphere indicate that the tailward heliopause is flattened considerably in the direction perpendicular to the large-scale interstellar magnetic field.2015, Jens Kleimann, Christian Röken, Horst Fichtner, Jacob Heerikhuisen, “Toward more realistic analytic models of the heliotail…. From the entry tailward
  • A Jersey barrier is highly effective at turning a vehicle back into its parallel lane of travel, but much less effective at dealing with a perpendicular force hit.2007, Ellis John, John W. Lee, Police Analysis and Planning for Homicide Bombings, →ISBN, page 198. From the entry jersey barrier
  • Push the vertical mower over the entire lawn in a series of straight passes, then go over it again in perpendicular rows, covering the area in a grid pattern.1999, Building Your Outdoor Home: 30 Easy Landscaping Projects, page 95. From the entry vertical mower
  • The Roman salute, in which the right arm was raised in a straight and perpendicular manner, had been adopted by D'Annunzio during his regency in Fiume.1997, Simonetta Falasca-Zamponi, Fascist Spectacle: The Aesthetics of Power in Mussolini's Italy, page 110. From the entry salute
  • A giant phasmid (or stick insect) from India whose cage was over two metres tall spent long hours standing upon a perpendicular branch and staring into Mother's eyes.1993, Rikki Ducornet, The Jade Cabinet, Dalkey Archive Press, page 19. From the entry phasmid
  • The prepeg was taken out from a spool and cut perpendicular to the fiber axis to form a postform (8 mm x 25 mm x 40 mm).1989, Basic Research in Superconductor, Ceramic, and Semiconductor Sciences at Selected Japanese Laboratories. From the entry postform
  • Lines through the mid points of all triangles pedally inscribed in a given triangle and drawn perpendicular to the respective opposite sides of the given triangle are concurrent.1952, Marshall Henry Haddock, The Basis of Mine Surveying, page 16. From the entry pedally
  • He could tell just when the drill had cut into hard rock at an acute angle and was running out of the perpendicular to follow the softer stratum.1921, William MacLeod Raine, chapter 21, in Gunsight Pass: How Oil Came to the Cattle Country. From the entry gum up
  • You can sew a godet into a slit cut perpendicular to a hem edge, but it's more common—and much easier—to insert it into a vertical panel seam, as shown here.2011, Carol Jean Fresia, Threads Sewing Guide, page 135. From the entry godet

Meaning of perpendicular

  1. adjective At or forming a right angle (to something).
  2. adjective Exactly upright; extending in a straight line toward the centre of the earth, etc.
  3. adjective Independent of or irrelevant to each other; orthogonal.

Full definition of perpendicular

Questions about perpendicular in a sentence

How do you use perpendicular in a sentence?
Perpendicular is used as an adjective and noun. For example: “In most houses, the walls are perpendicular to the floor.”
What is a short sentence with perpendicular?
“This is completely perpendicular sabotage!”
What does perpendicular mean?
Perpendicular means at or forming a right angle (to something).

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: perpendicular (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.

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