How to Use orthogonal in a Sentence

orthogonal

adjective
Definition of orthogonalnext
  • The shifting tectonics play off the orthogonal grid of courts.
    — Michael Kimmelman, New York Times, 28 Apr. 2017
  • This use of orthogonal coding to separate and protect information in the brain has been seen before.
    — Quanta Magazine, 15 Apr. 2021
  • Next, ceramic spheres and compressed aluminum powder rods are stacked in an orthogonal, grillage pattern and enclosed in a steel box using spot welds.
    — Caroline Delbert, Popular Mechanics, 20 July 2020
  • This is a complex procedural question that's orthogonal to questions about the copyright status of APIs.
    — Timothy B. Lee, Ars Technica, 8 Oct. 2020
  • Shoup’s own project, called SuperPaint, was orthogonal to that effort, and not universally blessed.
    — Steven Levy, Wired, 31 Aug. 2021
  • In addition to photos, the system will pull its imagery from sources such as commercial satellite and orthogonal imagery.
    — Sean Gallagher, Ars Technica, 16 Mar. 2018
  • It is moved in a straight line (orthogonal or diagonal) to the first vacant intersection beyond the men, and the men so jumped are immediately removed.
    — Quanta Magazine, 28 Aug. 2015
  • This placed an undue burden on trustees and money managers to chase social goals which are orthogonal to the single focus of providing financial value to retirees.
    — Jerry Bowyer, National Review, 15 Oct. 2020
  • Relativity, a lithograph print by the Dutch artist M.C. Escher, portrays a world with three orthogonal sources of gravity, in which people climb and descend stairwells that seem to go uphill both ways.
    — Stephen MacKnik, Scientific American, 1 May 2021
  • But anything that conducts an electric field also conducts a magnetic field in the orthogonal direction.
    — James Conca, Forbes, 27 Sep. 2021
  • The first-generation Jetta (1980), designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro of Italdesign, was an orthogonal paragon of cheap-car virtue.
    — Dan Neil, WSJ, 10 Aug. 2018
  • The distance between the two towns can be measured on three (orthogonal) dimensions: longitude, latitude, and altitude.
    — Neuroskeptic, Discover Magazine, 9 Jan. 2012
  • All of this is, of course, trackable on the handheld's lower screen, the persistence of its orthogonal map eliminating screen-tabbing interruptions and clumsy semi-transparent overlays.
    — Matt Peckham, Time, 27 June 2017
  • The coal-refining tax credits were approved by Congress and, seeing as the energy industry is completely orthogonal to Mylan's business, there's no reason the company can't snatch up stakes in this business arena.
    — Sy Mukherjee, Fortune, 21 June 2017
  • This direction favors subsequent hydraulic fractures being orthogonal to the well.
    — Ian Palmer, Forbes, 19 May 2022
  • Lines accreted in an essentially radial configuration, with large arcs orbiting an absent central axis, and orthogonal spokes sprouting from the core.
    — Jason Farago, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2021
  • Our approach is orthogonal to existing work that focuses on improving hardware and software efficiency.
    — Jonathan Vanian, Fortune, 22 Feb. 2022
  • North African Jewish and non-Jewish populations form distinctive, orthogonal clusters.
    — Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 13 Aug. 2012
  • The methods developed so far really think about genetics and environment as separate and orthogonal, as independent factors.
    — Quanta Magazine, 23 Apr. 2019
  • The two orthogonal representations can then draw from overlapping neural activity without intruding on each other.
    — Quanta Magazine, 15 Apr. 2021
  • Each of those diverse ideas is loaded with preconceived notions, biases, tangential or orthogonal associations.
    — Jerry Weissman, Forbes, 8 Sep. 2021
  • The Isuzu platform will have orthogonal actuation systems with redundancies in steering, braking, engine control, wiring harnesses, compute, electrical power — all mission critical stuff.
    — Richard Bishop, Forbes, 6 Apr. 2021
  • Modern stories frequently plunge us into lengthy interior monologues, exhaustively describe settings and people’s physical features, delight in the random, absurd, and orthogonal, and end with deliberate ambiguity.
    — Ferris Jabr, Harper's magazine, 10 Mar. 2019

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'orthogonal.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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