An ellipse is an oval shape similar to a circle but longer and flatter.
The Earth orbits in an ellipse.
ellipse in British English
(ɪˈlɪps)
noun
a closed conic section shaped like a flattened circle and formed by an inclined plane that does not cut the base of the cone. Standard equation x2/a2 + y2/b2 = 1, where 2a and 2b are the lengths of the major and minor axes. Area: πab
the path of a point that moves so that the sum of its distances from two fixed points, the foci, is constant; closed curve formed by the section of a cone cut by a plane less steeply inclinedthan the side of the cone
Word origin
ModL ellipsis < Gr elleipsis, a defect, ellipse < elleipein, to fall short < en-, in + leipein, to leave (see loan): so named from falling short of a perfect circle
Examples of 'ellipse' in a sentence
ellipse
From the bows of the Golden Sands they watched an ellipse of heaving-line rise from the stern and uncoil against the sky.
Philip Marsden THE MAIN CAGES (2002)
That big ellipse is a freighter headed for the docks to pick up logs for Japan.