circumferential

[ ser-kuhm-fuh-ren-shuhl ]

adjective

1. of, at, or near the circumference; surrounding; lying along the outskirts.
2. lying within the circumference.
3. circuitous; indirect:

   a circumferential manner of speech.

Word History and Origins

Origin of circumferential¹

First recorded in 1600–10; from Latin circumferenti(a) + -al; circumference, -al ¹

Example Sentences

Boeing removed every fastener on each of the five circumferential joins on all of those airplanes, about 2,000 fasteners for each join, and measured the gap at each hole — a so-called “through-hole” inspection.

From Seattle Times

On a convex or tubular structure such as the outside surface of a blood vessel, cells tend to move circumferentially around the shape.

From Science Daily

"It is the view of the FIA and Pirelli that a significant number of additional laps on these tyres could result in circumferential damage of the tyres, leading to failure," it said.

From BBC

Metro supported the Wilson Bridge’s rail-ready redesign and, in 2001, publicly shared “conceptual” plans for running trains across the span as the start of a circumferential rail line, according to a Washington Post article.

From Washington Post

The subsequent eye exam then “revealed circumferential spoke-like iris transillumination defects in both eyes,” the report’s authors, from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, wrote.

From Fox News

Related Words

• neighboring