cusp
Other forms: cusps
A cusp in geometry is the point where two curves meet. It's a kind of transition. If you're on the cusp of manhood, you’re not quite grown up, but you’re definitely not a little boy anymore either.
The word comes from Latin cuspis, "point." You'll see lots of cusps in Gothic churches — a point where two arches meet, or where decorative curves meet to form a point. The little points that stick out on the surface of your teeth that are flat on top — the ones you use for grinding — are also called cusps. Those teeth right behind your canine teeth but before your molars have two cusps, and they're called bicuspids.
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the limit beyond which something happens or changes
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point formed by two intersecting arcs (as from the intrados of a Gothic arch)type of:pointsharp end
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a thin triangular flap of a heart valve
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small elevation on the grinding surface of a tooth
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Vocabulary lists containing cusp
Jay Aubrey Jones pronounced more than 36,000 words for Vocabulary.com (including laurel). Here are some of the most esoteric. See if you can spell them while listening to the dulcet tones of Jay's voice!
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