Meaning & use
transverse
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Meanings
adjectivebefore a nountechnical
Lying or placed across something, especially at right angles to its length.
Grammar: Usually comes before a noun: a transverse beam.
Patterns
- transverse to something
- a transverse section
The bridge is held up by transverse beams under the deck.
The doctor examined a transverse fracture of the bone.
A transverse line crossed the long axis of the leaf.
adjectivebefore a nounphysics
Describing a wave in which the particles move at right angles to the direction the wave travels.
Grammar: Used in physics, often contrasted with longitudinal.
Patterns
- transverse wave
Light is a transverse wave, unlike sound in air.
Shaking a rope up and down makes a transverse wave.
Common combinations
- transverse section
- The diagram shows a transverse section of the stem.
- transverse wave
- A ripple on a pond is a transverse wave.
- transverse beam
- Workers fitted a transverse beam across the ceiling.
- transverse axis
- The axle lies along the transverse axis of the car.
- transverse fracture
- The X-ray showed a clean transverse fracture.
Synonyms and how they differ
- crosswise
- Crosswise is an everyday word for going across, while transverse is a technical term used in science and engineering.
- cross
- Cross is a plain, flexible word, often used in compounds, while transverse sounds precise and formal.
- horizontal
- Horizontal means level with the ground, whereas transverse only means across the main line, in whatever direction.
Opposites
Word family
- transversely adverb
- in a direction across something
- transversal noun
- a line that cuts across two or more other lines
- traverse verb
- to travel across something
Commonly confused: transverse or traverse? transverse or diagonal?
transverse vs traverse
Traverse is usually a verb meaning to cross or move over, though its related adjective is transverse.
transverse vs diagonal
Diagonal means slanting between corners, while transverse means across, usually at a right angle.
Practice
In a transverse wave, the particles move ___ to the direction the wave travels.
Choose one answer.
Transverse means across, so the motion is at right angles to the travel direction. Parallel motion describes a longitudinal wave.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “transverse”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.