GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

last match results

Found 2 definitions

1.       
   cross section n.
   1. a flat plane cutting through a three-dimensional object, usually at right angles to the longest axis of the object.
   
   [PJC]
   
   
   2. any visual representation of a cross section{1, showing the internal structure of the object in the plane of the cross section; as, “the technician prepared a series of MRI cross sections of the skull”. Different cross sections created by different techniques may show different aspects of internal structure.  Thus computerized axial tomography using X-rays shows different structures than are visualized by MRI.
   
   [PJC]
   
   
   3. a thin slice of an object made by cutting it transversely; as, “to view a cross section of a bacterium with an electron microscope after staining the DNA; cross sections were prepared with a microtome”.
   
   [PJC]
   
   
   4. a representative sample of a complex group; as, “the town contained a cross section of the American population”.
   
   [PJC]
   
   
   5. (Physics) a measure of the probability that a nucleus will interact in a specified way with a bombarding particle, expressed as the effective area that the nucleus presents to the particle; -- called also nuclear cross section.
   
   [PJC]
   
   
         
       

2.       
   cross section v. t. to create one or a series of cross sections{3 by cutting (an object) into thin slices.
   
   [PJC]