Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Arch

Arch (ärch), n. [F. arche, fr. LL. arca, for arcus. See Arc.] 1. (Geom.) Any part of a curved line.

2. (Arch.) (a) Usually a curved member made up of separate wedge-shaped solids, with the joints between them disposed in the direction of the radii of the curve; used to support the wall or other weight above an opening. In this sense arches are segmental, round (i. e., semicircular), or pointed. (b) A flat arch is a member constructed of stones cut into wedges or other shapes so as to support each other without rising in a curve.

☞ Scientifically considered, the arch is a means of spanning an opening by resolving vertical pressure into horizontal or diagonal thrust.

3. Any place covered by an arch; an archway; as, to pass into the arch of a bridge.

4. Any curvature in the form of an arch; as, the arch of the aorta. "Colors of the showery arch." Milton.

Triumphal arch, a monumental structure resembling an arched gateway, with one or more passages, erected to commemorate a triumph.

Arch, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Arched; p. pr. & vb. n. Arching.] 1. To cover with an arch or arches.

2. To form or bend into the shape of an arch.

The horse arched his neck. Charlesworth.

Arch, v. i. To form into an arch; to curve.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty.