{ Con″ic (?), Con″ic‐al (?) }, a. [Gr. �: cf. F. conique. See Cone.] 1. Having the form of, or resembling, a geometrical cone; round and tapering to a point, or gradually lessening in circumference; as, a conic or conical figure; a conical vessel.
2. Of or pertaining to a cone; as, conic sections.
Conic section(Geom.), a curved line formed by the intersection of the surface of a right cone and a plane. The conic sections are the parabola, ellipse, and hyperbola. The right lines and the circle which result from certain positions of the plane are sometimes, though not generally included. — Conic sections, that branch of geometry which treats of the parabola, ellipse, and hyperbola. — Conical pendulum. See Pendulum. — Conical projection, a method of delineating the surface of a sphere upon a plane surface as if projected upon the surface of a cone; — much used by makers of maps in Europe. — Conical surface(Geom.), a surface described by a right line moving along any curve and always passing through a fixed point that is not in the plane of that curve.