tangent

plural tangents

1. differential geometryA straight line touching a curve at a single point without crossing it there.

   1 more example

   One feature of the body, which is constructed of pressed-steel members, is the contour of the sides. They are in the form of a continuous radius from the bottom side to the cant rail, and to enable flat glass windows to be fitted the side panels are pressed around the window opening, forming a tangent to the curved bodyside.

   1951 May, “British Railways Standard Coaches”, in Railway Magazine, page 327

   Synonyms: tangent line

2. mathematicsA function of an angle that gives the ratio of the sine to the cosine, in either the real or complex numbers. Symbols: tan, tg.
3. transferred senseA course suddenly and unexpectedly divergent from one which was previously being followed (especially one embarked on before reaching the end of the previous course).
   1. transferred senseA new topic of discussion unrelated to the one which came before it, arrived at due to a single (peripheral or trivial) point in common with it.

      I believe we went off onto a tangent when we started talking about monkeys on unicycles at his retirement party.

      2 more examples

      “Uncle Barnaby was always father and mother to me,” Benson broke in; then after a pause his mind flew off at a tangent. “Is old Hannah all right—in the will, I mean?”

      1928, Lawrence R. Bourne, chapter 1, in Well Tackled!

      Jon & Kate Plus 8 is a show based on two facts: (1) Jon and Kate Gosselin have eight children, and (2) the word ‘Kate’ rhymes with the word ‘eight’. One suspects that if Kate were ever to have another child, a shady network executive would urge her to put it in a binbag with a brick and drop it down a well. But this is just a horrifying tangent.

      2009 May 22, Stuart Heritage, “Jon & Kate Latest: People You Don’t Know Do Crap You Don’t Care About”, in Hecklerspray, archived from the original on 15 Apr 2024

4. artA visual interaction between two or more lines or edges that creates a perceived relationship between them, often in a way that the artist did not intend.
5. entertainmentA small metal blade in a clavichord or other instrument that strikes the strings to produce sound.

1. not comparablegeometryTouching a curve at a single point but not crossing it at that point.
2. not comparableOf a topic, only loosely related to a main topic.

   Synonyms: tangential

3. not comparablerail transportStraight; not horizontally curved.

   The collision occurred on a two-mile stretch of tangent track.

present singular third person tangents · participle present tangenting · participle past tangented · past tangented

1. informalintransitiverareSynonym of fly off at a tangent (“to digress from a topic”).

   Stop tangenting, please, thanks!

   2011 May 19, BaSSiStiSt, “Questions for WAB - 5/19/11”, in alt.sports.basketball.nba.la-lakers (Usenet)

   2 more examples

   OK. Did that have anything to do with what I was saying? I just wanna know if you're tangenting or making an oblique connection I'm missing.

   1999 August 12, Robin Lee Powell, “Are WOMEN the SUPERIOR GENDER?”, in soc.sexuality.general (Usenet)

   I apoligise^([sic]) if anyone found these back-references more helpful than the answers that I gave -- I tried to cover all the salient points but -- well... "everything is deeply intermingled" and it's hard to know where to stop tangenting.

   2001 November 16, Helpful GM, “CL: you gain experience???”, in comp.sys.mac.games.adventure (Usenet)

   Synonyms: fly off at a tangent