Arch Dictionary

Going through VEX IQ and having to learn about a topic is very fun. This experience also
comes with learning new vocabulary and terms that we have never heard or used before. This
dictionary is a place where our team would write any new word that we found and its meaning.
We could use this dictionary to refer back to at anytime or just keep it to keep track of our new
vocabulary!
We had many ideas before coming to a decision of arch bridges. We did not follow
through with other ideas because either experts were unable to help us or did not reply. Also,
in the end, we were all most interested in learning about arches. This is dictionary is purely for
the topic of arches and arch bridges.

ALPHABETICAL ORDER
Abutment:
A structure built to support the lateral pressure of an arch or span, e.g., at the ends of a bridge.
Arch Bridge:
An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges
work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust
restrained by the abutments at either side.
Aqueducts:
An artificial channel for conveying water, typically in the form of a bridge supported by tall
columns across a valley.
Bridge:
A structure carrying a road, path, railroad, or canal across a river, ravine, road, railroad, or other
obstacle.
Canal:
An artificial waterway constructed to allow the passage of boats or ships inland or to convey
water for irrigation.
Cantilevers:
A long projecting beam or girder fixed at only one end, used chiefly in bridge construction.

Connotations:
An idea or feeling that a word invokes in addition to its literal or primary meaning.
Corbel:
A projection jutting out from a wall to support a structure above it.
Civil Engineer:
An engineer who designs and maintains roads, bridges, dams, and similar structures.
Compression:
The action of compressing or being compressed.
Conveyed:
Transport or carry to a place
Curvature:
The fact of being curved or the degree to which something is curved.
Dissipate:
Disperse or scatter.
Distribute:
Give shares of (something); deal out.
Divert:
Cause (someone or something) to change course or turn from one direction to another.
Forces:
Strength or energy as an attribute of physical action or movement.
Form:
A mold, frame, or block in or on which something is shaped.
Frame:
A rigid structure that surrounds or encloses something such as a door or window. (mount)
Keystone:
A central stone at the summit of an arch, locking the whole together.
Load:

A heavy or bulky thing that is being carried or is about to be carried.

Masonry:
Stonework
Neglectable:
Small enough, or unimportant enough to be neglected; negligible.
Physics:
The branch of science concerned with the nature and properties of matter and energy. The
subject matter of physics, distinguished from that of chemistry and biology, includes mechanics,
heat, light and other radiation, sound, electricity, magnetism, and the structure of atoms.
Pressure:
The continuous physical force exerted on or against an object by something in contact with it.
Prominent:
Important; famous.
Push:
Exert force on (someone or something), typically with one's hand, in order to move them away
from oneself or the origin of the force.
Resistance:
The refusal to accept or comply with something; the attempt to prevent something by action or
argument.
Rigid:
Unable to bend
or be forced out of shape; not flexible. (firm)
Semi circular:
Half of a whole circle.

Structural Engineer:
Structural engineers analyze, design, plan, and research structural components and structural
systems to achieve design goals and ensure the safety and comfort of users or occupants.

Structural integrity:
Structural integrity is the term used for the performance characteristic applied to a component,
a single structure, or a structure consisting of different components. Structural integrity is the
ability of an item to hold together under a load, including its own weight, resisting breakage or
bending.
Structure:
The arrangement of and relations between the parts or elements of something complex.
Sturdy:
Strongly and solidly built
Tension:
The state of being stretched tight.
Viaduct:
A long bridge like structure, typically a series of arches, carrying a road or railroad across a
valley or other low ground.
Voussoirs:
A wedge-shaped or tapered stone used to construct an arch.
Radius:
A straight line from the center to the circumference of a circle or sphere.
Radians:
A unit of angle, equal to an angle at the center of a circle whose arc is equal in length to the
radius.
Architecture:
The art or practice of designing and constructing buildings.
Vault:
A roof in the form of an arch or a series of arches, typical of churches and other large, formal
buildings.
Wedge:
A piece of wood, metal, or some other material having one thick end and tapering to a thin
edge, that is driven between two objects or parts of an object to secure or separate them.

Segmental:
Denoting or of the form of an arch the curved part of which forms a shallow arc of a circle, less
than a semicircle.
Radially:
Made in the direction of a radius; going from the center outward or from the circumference
inward along a radius.
Thrust:
Push (something or someone) suddenly or violently in the specified direction.
Buttress:
Provide (a building or structure) with projecting supports built against its walls.
Triumphal Arch:
A triumphal arch is a monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more
arched passageways, often designed to span a road.
Mortar:
A cup-shaped receptacle made of hard material, in which ingredients are crushed or ground,
used especially in cooking or pharmacy.