helicline
/ˈhɛlɪˌklaɪn/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A curving or spiral-shaped ramp; (especially) the ramp at the 1939 New York World's Fair Theme Center.
Example Sentences
- "A bridge will link the sphere to the tower, while from the latter a ramp 900 ft. long will slope gently to the ground curving around the fountain basis beneath the sphere in a huge three-quarter circle. This ramp is described as the “helicline,” and will be 50 ft. high at the top"
- "We have heard rumours of several good buildings at the Fair, but the newscuttings have not so far found time to tell us about them among attractions so sensational that no previously known words would cover them. “Democracity” is studded with Trylons and Perispheres, slides on Heliclines and sploshes in Aquacades."
- "Stepping to the helicline of the flood-lighted Perisphere at the New York World's Fair at midnight Sunday, an Army bugler sounded taps, signalizing the beginning of an epic grand finale."
- "The Perisphere housed the exhibit, where visitors entered by means of “the world’s longest escalator,” and exited down a 950-foot ramp, called the Helicline."
- "stepped ramp ¶ A series of ramps connected by steps.¶ helicline ¶ A curved ramp."
Etymology
Blend of helico- + incline or combination of heli- + -cline, from Ancient Greek ἕλιξ (hélix, “spiral”). Attested from the 1930s (see quotations below).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: ἕλιξ