helix
noun
he·lix
| \ ˈhē-liks
\
\
plural helices\ ˈhe-lə-ˌsēz
, ˈhē- \
also helixes\ ˈhē-lik-səz
\
, ˈhē- \
also helixes\ ˈhē-lik-səz
\
Definition of helix
1
: something spiral in form: such as
a
: an ornamental volute
b
: a coil formed by winding wire around a uniform tube
2
: the incurved rim of the external ear
3
: a curve traced on a cylinder or cone by the rotation of a point crossing its right sections at a constant oblique angle
broadly
: spiral sense 1b
Examples of helix in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
That gives it enough oomph to spiral up a triple helix. — Arthur Levine, USA TODAY, "Canada's Wonderland marathon: Riding all of the Toronto park's roller coasters in a day," 20 June 2019 The light emerges looking like a helix corkscrewing around a central point. — Adam Mann, National Geographic, "Physicists discover croissant-shaped twists of light," 27 June 2019 Much of the past century’s progress in biology has come from scientists being able to picture what DNA helices, protein channels and other biomolecules look like within the milieu of the cell. — Quanta Magazine, "Supercool Protein Imaging Gets the Nobel Prize," 4 Oct. 2017 That stress triggers changes in shape, most notably opening up the helix to be read. — Quanta Magazine, "How Strange Twists in DNA Orchestrate Life," 5 Jan. 2016 That's cool, but such an approach cannot build complex structures like DNA helixes or hollow tubes. — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, "Honey, I Shrunk Everything: MIT Scientists Can Shrink Objects to the Nanoscale," 18 Dec. 2018 The steel helix expands like a tornado from the middle of the room, covered in fluorescent fish. — Kevin Dupzyk, Popular Mechanics, "Unseen Oceans: How the American Museum of Natural History Builds a New Exhibit," 21 June 2018 Motorists will also have another major disruption to contend with the year after the Route 495 work is completed: the replacement of the helix leading down into the Lincoln Tunnel, tentatively scheduled to begin 2022 and last about five years. — David Porter, Fox News, "NYC commuters are spared a nightmare as road project starts," 21 Aug. 2018 Motorists will also have another major disruption to contend with the year after the Route 495 work is completed: the replacement of the helix leading down into the Lincoln Tunnel, tentatively scheduled to begin 2022 and last about five years. — David Porter, Fox News, "NYC commuters are spared a nightmare as road project starts," 21 Aug. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'helix.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for helix
helix
noun
English Language Learners Definition of helix
: the shape formed by a line that curves around and along a central line
See the full definition for helix in the English Language Learners Dictionary
helix
noun
he·lix
| \ ˈhē-liks
\
\
plural helices\ ˈhel-ə-ˌsēz
, ˈhē-lə-
\
also helixes\ ˈhē-lik-səz
\
, ˈhē-lə-
\
also helixes\ ˈhē-lik-səz
\
Medical Definition of helix
1
: the incurved rim of the external ear
2
: a curve traced on a cylinder by the rotation of a point crossing its right sections at a constant oblique angle
broadly
: spiral sense 2 — see alpha-helix, double helix
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