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lanceolate

American  
[lan-see-uh-leyt, -lit] / ˈlæn si əˌleɪt, -lɪt /

adjective

  1. shaped like the head of a lance.

  2. narrow, and tapering toward the apex or sometimes at the base, as a leaf.


lanceolate British  
/ -lɪt, ˈlɑːnsɪəˌleɪt /

adjective

  1. narrow and tapering to a point at each end

    lanceolate leaves

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

lanceolate Scientific  
/ lănsē-ə-lāt′ /
  1. Tapering from a rounded base toward an apex; lance-shaped. Many willows have lanceolate leaves.


Other Word Forms

  • lanceolately adverb
  • sublanceolate adjective

Etymology

Origin of lanceolate

1750–60; < Latin lanceolātus armed with a small lance, equivalent to lanceol ( a ) small lance ( lance ( a ) lance 1 + -ola -ole 1 ) + -ātus -ate 1

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The ears are far narrower than those of living rhinos – they’ve even been described as lanceolate in form.

From Scientific American • Nov. 9, 2013

Scape 1° high, from a thickened caudex, leaves lanceolate, elongated, tapering to a sharp point, entire, woolly on the margins; scales of the involucre lanceolate, sharp-pointed, achene beakless.—Prairies,

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Gray, Asa

Leaves lanceolate; calyx 4-parted; petals 4, greenish-yellow; the upper one 3–5-cleft, the two lateral 3-cleft, the lower one linear and entire; capsule depressed.—Roadsides,

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Gray, Asa

P. hieracioìdes, L. Rather tall, corymbosely branched, the bristles somewhat barbed at tip; leaves lanceolate or broader, clasping, irregularly toothed; achenes oblong, with little or no beak.—Sparingly introduced.

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Gray, Asa

Annual; leaves lanceolate and arrow-shaped; pods margined, large.

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Gray, Asa