trapezoid (redirected from Trapezoids)

trapezoid, closed plane figure bounded by four line segments, or sides, two of which are parallel and two of which are nonparallel. The parallel sides of a trapezoid are called bases and the nonparallel sides legs; in an isosceles trapezoid the legs are of equal length. The median of a trapezoid is the line segment connecting the midpoints of the legs; it is parallel to the bases and equal to half the sum of their lengths. The altitude of a trapezoid is the perpendicular distance between the bases. The area of a trapezoid is equal to half the product of the altitude and the sum of the bases, i.e., to the product of the altitude and the median.

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trapezoid

1. a quadrilateral having neither pair of sides parallel

2. US and Canadian a quadrilateral having two parallel sides of unequal length

3. a small bone of the wrist near the base of the index finger

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trapezoid [′trap·ə‚zȯid]

(mathematics)

A quadrilateral having two parallel sides.