horizontal

adjective hor·i·zon·tal \ ˌhȯr-ə-ˈzän-tᵊl , ˌhär- \

Updated on: 6 Dec 2017

Definition of horizontal

1 a : of or relating to the apparent junction of earth and sky : situated near the horizon

b : parallel to, in the plane of, or operating in a plane parallel to the horizon or to a baseline : level

horizontal distance

a horizontal engine

2 : relating to, directed toward, or consisting of individuals or entities of similar status or on the same level

horizontal mergers

horizontal hostility

3 medical : relating to or being transmission (as of a disease) by physical contact or proximity in contrast with inheritance

Genes are normally inherited from parents, but they can also be inserted into a genome by viruses, plasmids, and other foreign agents—a phenomenon called horizontal transfer.
—Stephan Reebs

— compare vertical 4

—

horizontal

noun

—

horizontality

play \ˌhȯr-ə-ˌzän-ˈta-lə-tē, ˌhär-\ noun

—

horizontally

play \ˌhȯr-ə-ˈzän-tᵊl-ē, ˌhär-\ adverb

See horizontal defined for English-language learners

See horizontal defined for kids

Recent Examples of horizontal from the Web

One of the inserts was the Skyline Stage, which, upon its opening in 1994, departed sharply — painfully so — from the continuously original horizontal silhouette of the pier's passenger and cargo sheds.

— blair kamin, chicagotribune.com, "Flexible, intimate and innovative, The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare has its opening night," 20 Sep. 2017
An image of small horizontal stripes in a column, with nine highlights to represent Portland’s many bridges, is among the pieces, for example.

— jessica lee, The Seattle Times, "The artist behind the viral image of Seattle’s wacky intersections," 31 Aug. 2017
The company incorporated in 1968 as Walter Kidde & Co. and became a horizontal conglomerate.

— david j. neal, miamiherald, "391 malfunctions, 16 injuries, 1 death get 44 years of fire extinguishers recalled," 2 Nov. 2017
Surveillance showed a suspect with black hair wearing a red Adidas hooded jacket with horizontal stripes across the chest and gray shoes with red accents and white soles.

— karen pilarski, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Wauwatosa police reports: Man steals 55 packs of cigarettes from Walgreen's," 1 Nov. 2017
The current day view is a huge waste of horizontal space on a desktop monitor, so this is a nice improvement.

— ron amadeo, Ars Technica, "Google Calendar for Web gets its first redesign since 2011," 18 Oct. 2017
Most of them have a single sash lock installed at the horizontal meeting rails where the upper and lower sash meet.

— joseph truini, Popular Mechanics, "How to Winterize Drafty Windows," 29 Sep. 2017
The country music singer begins by clarifying the importance of the horizontal lines displayed on the red Solo cup.

— Southern Living, "Red Solo Cup 101 With Professor Toby Keith," 11 Sep. 2017
That is an engineering and geological uncertainty since the long horizontal wells, blasted through hard rock, are relatively new and have never been seriously tested by flooding.

— clifford krauss, New York Times, "Storm’s Impact on Oil Industry Is Felt at Gasoline Pumps," 31 Aug. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'horizontal.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.