parabola: Meaning and Definition of

pa•rab•o•la

Pronunciation: (pu-rab'u-lu), [key]
— n. Geom.
  1. a plane curve formed by the intersection of a right circular cone with a plane parallel to a generator of the cone; the set of points in a plane that are equidistant from a fixed line and a fixed point in the same plane or in a parallel plane. Equation: = 2px or x = 2py. See diag. under y
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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