Topic Thesaurus
Roget's Thesaurus

Superficial Form

Convexity

Nouns
  • convexity, prominence, projection, swelling, gibbosity, bilge, bulge, protuberance, protrusion
  • camber, cahot [U.S.]. thank-ye-ma'am [U.S.]. swell. intumescence
  • tumour [Brit.], tumor
  • tubercle, tuberosity [Anat.]
  • excrescence
  • hump, hunch, bunch. boss, embossment, hub, hubble
  • [convex body parts] tooth [U.S.], knob, elbow, process, apophysis, condyle, bulb, node, nodule, nodosity, tongue, dorsum, bump, clump
  • sugar loaf etc. (sharpness) Sharpness
  • bow
  • mamelon
  • molar
  • belly, corporation, pot belly, gut [Coll.]
  • withers, back, shoulder, lip, flange. [convexities on skin] pimple, zit [Slang]
  • wen, wheel, papula [Med.], pustule, pock, proud flesh, growth, sarcoma, caruncle, corn, wart, pappiloma, furuncle, polypus, fungus, fungosity, exostosis, bleb, blister, blain
  • boil etc. (disease) Disease
  • airbubble, blob, papule, verruca. [convex body parts on chest] papilla, nipple, teat, tit [Vulg.], titty [Vulg.], boob [Vulg.], knocker [Vulg.], pap, breast, dug, mammilla. [prominent convexity on the face] proboscis, nose, neb, beak, snout, nozzle, schnoz [Coll.]. peg, button, stud, ridge, rib, jutty, trunnion, snag. cupola, dome, arch, balcony, eaves
  • pilaster. relief, cameo
  • bassorilievo, mezzorilevo, altorivievo
  • low relief, high relief. hill etc. (height) Height
  • cape, promontory, mull
  • forehead, foreland
  • point of land, mole, jetty, hummock, ledge, spur
  • naze, ness.
Verbs
  • be prominent etc. adj.
  • project, bulge, protrude, pout, bunch
  • jut out, stand out, stick out, poke out
  • stick up, bristle up, start up, cock up, shoot up
  • swell over, hang over, bend over
  • beetle. render prominent etc. adj.
  • raise Elevation
  • emboss, chase. [become convex] belly out.
Adjectives
  • convex, prominent, protuberant, projecting etc. v.
  • bossed, embossed, bossy, nodular, bunchy
  • clavate, clavated, claviform
  • hummocky, moutonne, mammiliform
  • papulous, papilose
  • hemispheric, bulbous
  • bowed, arched
  • bold
  • bellied
  • tuberous, tuberculous
  • tumous
  • cornute, odontoid
  • lentiform, lenticular
  • gibbous
  • club shaped, hubby [U.S.], hubbly [U.S.], knobby, papillose, saddle-shaped, selliform, subclavate, torose, ventricose, verrucose. salient, in relief, raised, repousse
  • bloated etc., (expanded) Expansion.

Flatness

Nouns
  • flatness etc. adj.
  • smoothness etc. Smoothness. plane
  • level etc. Horizontality
  • plate, platter, table, tablet, slab.
Verbs
Adjectives
  • flat, plane, even, flush, scutiform, discoid
  • level etc. (horizontal) Horizontality
  • flat as a pancake, flat as a fluke, flat as a flounder, flat as a board, flat as my hand.

Concavity

Nouns
  • concavity, depression, dip
  • hollow, hollowness
  • indentation, intaglio, cavity, dent, dint, dimple, follicle, pit, sinus, alveolus, lacuna
  • excavation, strip mine
  • trough etc. (furrow) Furrow
  • honeycomb. cup, basin, crater, punch bowl
  • cell etc. (receptacle) Receptacle
  • socket. valley, vale, dale, dell, dingle, combe, bottom, slade, strath, glade, grove, glen, cave, cavern, cove
  • grot, grotto
  • alcove, cul-de-sac
  • gully etc. Interval
  • arch etc. (curve) Curvature
  • bay etc. (of the sea) Gulf. Lake. excavator, sapper, miner. honeycomb (sponge) Concavity.Existence.
Verbs
  • be concave etc. adj.
  • retire, cave in. render concave etc. adj.
  • depress, hollow
  • scoop, scoop out
  • gouge, gouge out, dig, delve, excavate, dent, dint, mine, sap, undermine, burrow, tunnel, stave in.
Adjectives
  • depressed etc. v.
  • alveolate, calathiform, cup-shaped, dishing
  • favaginous, faveolate, favose
  • scyphiform, scyphose
  • concave, hollow, stove in
  • retiring
  • retreating
  • cavernous
  • porous etc. (with holes) Opening
  • infundibul, infundibular, infundibuliform
  • funnel shaped, bell shaped
  • campaniform, capsular
  • vaulted, arched.

Sponge

Nouns
  • ponge, honeycomb, network
  • frit [Chem], filter. sieve, net, screen (opening) Opening.
Adjectives
  • cellular, spongy, spongious
  • honeycombed, alveolar
  • sintered
  • porous (opening) Opening.

Sharpness

Nouns
  • sharpness etc. adj.
  • acuity, acumination
  • spinosity. point, spike, spine, spicule [Biol.], spiculum
  • needle, hypodermic needle, tack, nail, pin
  • prick, prickle
  • spur, rowel, barb
  • spit, cusp
  • horn, antler
  • snag
  • tag thorn, bristle
  • Adam's needle, bear grass [U.S.], tine, yucca. nib, tooth, tusk
  • spoke, cog, ratchet. crag, crest, cone peak, sugar loaf, pike, aiguille
  • spire, pyramid, steeple. beard, porcupine, hedgehog, brier, bramble, thistle
  • comb
  • awn, beggar's lice, bur, burr, catchweed, cleavers, clivers, goose, grass, hairif, hariff, flax comb, hackle, hatchel, heckle. wedge
  • knife edge, cutting edge
  • blade, edge tool, cutlery, knife, penknife, whittle, razor, razor blade, safety razor, straight razor, electric razor
  • scalpel
  • bistoury, lancet
  • plowshare, coulter, colter
  • hatchet, ax, pickax, mattock, pick, adze, gill
  • billhook, cleaver, cutter
  • scythe, sickle
  • scissors, shears, pruning shears, cutters, wire cutters, nail clipper, paper cutter
  • sword etc. (arms) Arms
  • bodkin etc. (perforator) Perforator
  • belduque, bowie knife, paring knife
  • bushwhacker [U.S.]
  • drawing knife, drawing shave
  • microtome [Micro.]
  • chisel, screwdriver blade
  • flint blade
  • guillotine. sharpener, hone, strop
  • grindstone, whetstone
  • novaculite
  • steel, emery.
Verbs
  • be sharp etc. adj.
  • taper to a point
  • bristle with. render sharp etc. adj.
  • sharpen, point, aculeate, whet, barb, spiculate, set, strop, grind
  • chip (flint). cut etc. (sunder) Disjunction.
Adjectives
  • sharp, keen
  • acute
  • acicular, aciform
  • aculeated, acuminated
  • pointed
  • tapering
  • conical, pyramidal
  • mucronate, mucronated
  • spindle shaped, needle shaped
  • spiked, spiky, ensiform, peaked, salient
  • cusped, cuspidate, cuspidated
  • cornute, cornuted, cornicultate
  • prickly
  • spiny, spinous, spicular
  • thorny, bristling, muricated, pectinated, studded, thistly, briary
  • craggy etc. (rough) Roughness
  • snaggy, digitated, two-edged, fusiform [Micro.]
  • dentiform, denticulated
  • toothed
  • odontoid
  • starlike
  • stellated, stelliform
  • sagittate, sagittiform
  • arrowheaded
  • arrowy, barbed, spurred. acinaciform
  • apiculate, apiculated
  • aristate, awned, awny, bearded, calamiform, cone-shaped, coniform, crestate, echinate, gladiate
  • lanceolate, lanciform
  • awl, awl-shaped, lance-shaped, awl-shaped, scimitar-shaped, sword-shaped
  • setarious, spinuliferous, subulate, tetrahedral, xiphoid. cutting
  • sharp edged, knife edged
  • sharp as a razor, keen as a razor
  • sharp as a needle, sharp as a tack
  • sharpened etc. v.
  • set

Bluntness

Nouns
  • bluntness etc. adj..
Verbs
  • be blunt, render blunt etc. adj.
  • obtund, dull
  • take off the point, take off the edge
  • turn.
Adjectives
  • blunt, obtuse, dull, bluff
  • edentate, toothless.

Smoothness

Nouns
  • smoothness etc. adj.
  • polish, gloss
  • lubricity, lubrication. [smooth materials] down, velvet, velure, silk, satin
  • velveteen, velour, velours, velumen
  • glass, ice. slide
  • bowling green etc. (level) Horizontality
  • asphalt, wood pavement, flagstone, flags. [objects used to smooth other objects] roller, steam roller, lawn roller, rolling pin, rolling mill
  • sand paper, emery paper, emery cloth, sander
  • flat iron, sad iron
  • burnisher, turpentine and beeswax
  • polish, shoe polish. [art of cutting and polishing gemstones] lapidary. [person who polishes gemstones] lapidary, lapidarian.
Verbs
Adjectives
  • smooth
  • polished etc. v.
  • leiodermatous, slick, velutinous
  • even
  • level etc. Horizontality
  • plane etc. (flat) Flatness
  • sleek, glossy
  • silken, silky
  • lanate, downy, velvety
  • glabrous, slippery, glassy, lubricous, oily, soft, unwrinkled
  • smooth as glass, smooth as ice, smooth as monumental alabaster, smooth as velvet, smooth as oil
  • slippery as an eel
  • woolly etc. (feathery) Roughness.
Phrases
  • smooth as silk
  • slippery as coonshit on a pump handle
  • slippery as a greased pig.

Roughness

Nouns
  • roughness etc. adj.
  • tooth, grain, texture, ripple
  • asperity, rugosity, salebrosity, corrugation, nodosity
  • arborescence etc. [Regularity of form.] Symmetry
  • pilosity. brush, hair, beard, shag, mane, whisker, moustache, imperial, tress, lock, curl, ringlet
  • fimbriae, pili, cilia, villi
  • lovelock
  • beaucatcher
  • curl paper
  • goatee
  • papillote, scalp lock. plumage, plumosity
  • plume, panache, crest
  • feather, tuft, fringe, toupee. wool, velvet, plush, nap, pile, floss, fur, down
  • byssus, moss, bur
  • fluff. knot (convolution) [Complex curvature.] Convolution.
Verbs
  • be rough etc. adj.
  • go against the grain. render-rough etc. adj.
  • roughen, ruffle, crisp, crumple, corrugate, set on edge, stroke the wrong way, rumple.
Adjectives
  • rough, uneven, scabrous, scaly, knotted
  • rugged, rugose, rugous
  • knurly
  • asperous, crisp, salebrous, gnarled, unpolished, unsmooth, roughhewn
  • craggy, cragged
  • crankling, scraggy
  • prickly etc. (sharp) Sharpness
  • arborescent etc. [Regularity of form.] Symmetry
  • leafy, well-wooded
  • feathery
  • plumose, plumigerous
  • laciniate, laciniform, laciniose
  • pappose
  • pileous, pilose
  • trichogenous, trichoid [Med.]
  • tufted, fimbriated, hairy, ciliated, filamentous, hirsute
  • crinose, crinite
  • bushy, hispid, villous, pappous, bearded, pilous, shaggy, shagged
  • fringed, befringed
  • setous, setose, setaceous
  • like quills upon the fretful porcupine" [Hamlet]
  • rough as a nutmeg grater, rough as a bear. downy, velvety, flocculent, woolly
  • lanate, lanated
  • lanuginous, lanuginose
  • tomentose
  • fluffy.
Adverbs
  • against the grain.

Notch

Nouns
  • notch, dent, nick, cut
  • indent, indentation
  • dimple. embrasure, battlement, machicolation
  • saw, tooth, crenelle, scallop, scollop, vandyke
  • depression
  • jag.
Verbs
  • notch, nick, cut, dent, indent, jag, scarify, scotch, crimp, scallop, scollop, crenulate, vandyke.
Adjectives
  • notched etc. v.
  • crenate, crenated
  • dentate, dentated
  • denticulate, denticulated
  • toothed, palmated, serrated.

Fold

Nouns
  • fold, plicature, plait, pleat, ply, crease
  • tuck, gather
  • flexion, flexure, joint, elbow, double, doubling, duplicature, gather, wrinkle, rimple, crinkle, crankle, crumple, rumple, rivel, ruck, ruffle, dog's ear, corrugation, frounce, flounce, lapel
  • pucker, crow's feet
  • plication.
Verbs
  • fold, double, plicate, plait, crease, wrinkle, crinkle, crankle, curl, cockle up, cocker, rimple, rumple, flute, frizzle, frounce, rivel, twill, corrugate, ruffle, crimple, crumple, pucker
  • turn down, double down, down under
  • tuck, ruck, hem, gather.
Adjectives
  • folded, fluted, pleated etc. v..

Furrow

Nouns
  • furrow, groove, rut, sulcus [Anat.], scratch, streak, striae, crack, score, incision, slit
  • chamfer, fluting
  • corduroy road, cradle hole. channel, gutter, trench, ditch, dike, dyke
  • moat, fosse, trough, kennel
  • ravine etc. (interval) Interval
  • tajo [U.S.], thank-ye-ma'am [U.S.].
Verbs
  • furrow etc. n.
  • flute, plow
  • incise, engrave, etch, bite in.
Adjectives
  • furrowed etc. v.
  • ribbed, striated, sulcated [Anat.], fluted, canaliculated
  • bisulcous, bisulcate, bisulcated
  • canaliferous
  • trisulcate
  • corduroy
  • unisulcate
  • costate, rimiform.

Opening

Nouns
  • hole, foramen
  • puncture, perforation
  • fontanel
  • transforation
  • pinhole, keyhole, loophole, porthole, peephole, mousehole, pigeonhole
  • eye of a needle
  • eyelet
  • slot. opening
  • aperture, apertness
  • hiation, yawning, oscitancy, dehiscence, patefaction, pandiculation
  • chasm etc. (interval) Interval. embrasure, window, casement
  • abatjour
  • light
  • sky light, fan light
  • lattice
  • bay window, bow window
  • oriel [Arch.]
  • dormer, lantern. outlet, inlet
  • vent, vomitory
  • embouchure
  • orifice, mouth, sucker, muzzle, throat, gullet, weasand, wizen, nozzle
  • placket. portal, porch, gate, ostiary, postern, wicket, trapdoor, hatch, door
  • arcade
  • cellarway, driveway, gateway, doorway, hatchway, gangway
  • lich gate. way, path etc. Method [Path.]
  • thoroughfare
  • channel
  • passage, passageway
  • tube, pipe
  • water pipe etc. [Channel for the passage of water.] Conduit
  • air pipe etc. [Channel for the passage of air.] Airpipe
  • vessel, tubule, canal, gut, fistula
  • adjutage, ajutage
  • ostium
  • smokestack
  • chimney, flue, tap, funnel, gully, tunnel, main
  • mine, pit, adit, shaft
  • gallery. alley, aisle, glade, vista. bore, caliber
  • pore
  • blind orifice
  • fulgurite, thundertube. porousness, porosity. sieve, cullender, colander
  • cribble, riddle, screen
  • honeycomb. apertion, perforation
  • piercing etc. v.
  • terebration, empalement, pertusion, puncture, acupuncture, penetration. key etc. Instrumentality, opener, master key, password, combination, passe-partout.
Verbs
  • open, ope, gape, yawn, bilge
  • fly open. perforate, pierce, empierce, tap, bore, drill
  • mine etc. (scoop out) Concavity
  • tunnel
  • transpierce, transfix
  • enfilade, impale, spike, spear, gore, spit, stab, pink, puncture, lance, stick, prick, riddle, punch
  • stave in. cut a passage through
  • make way for, make room for. uncover, unclose, unrip
  • lay open, cut open, rip open, throw open, pop open, blow open, pry open, tear open, pull open.
Adjectives
  • open
  • perforated etc. v.
  • perforate
  • wide open, ajar, unclosed, unstopped
  • oscitant, gaping, yawning
  • patent. tubular, cannular, fistulous
  • pervious, permeable
  • foraminous
  • vesicular, vasicular
  • porous, follicular, cribriform, honeycombed, infundibular, riddled
  • tubulous, tubulated
  • piped, tubate. opening etc. v.
  • aperient.
Int
  • open sesame!

Closure

Nouns
  • closure, occlusion, blockade
  • shutting up etc. v.
  • obstruction etc. (hindrance) Hindrance
  • embolus
  • contraction etc. Contraction
  • infarction
  • constipation, obstipation
  • blind alley, blind corner
  • keddah
  • cul-de-sac, caecum
  • imperforation, imperviousness etc. adj.
  • impermeability
  • stopper etc. Stopper.
Verbs
  • close, occlude, plug
  • block up, stop up, fill up, bung up, cork up, button up, stuff up, shut up, dam up
  • blockade, obstruct etc. (hinder) Hindrance
  • bar, bolt, stop, seal, plumb
  • choke, throttle
  • ram down, dam, cram
  • trap, clinch
  • put to the door, shut the door.
Adjectives
  • closed etc. v.
  • shut, operculated
  • unopened. unpierced, imporous, caecal [Med.]
  • closable
  • imperforate, impervious, impermeable
  • impenetrable
  • impassable, unpassable
  • invious
  • pathless, wayless
  • untrodden, untrod. unventilated
  • air tight, water tight
  • hermetically sealed
  • tight, snug.

Perforator

Nouns
  • perforator, piercer, borer, auger, chisel, gimlet, stylet, drill, wimble, awl, bradawl, scoop, terrier, corkscrew, dibble, trocar [Med.], trepan, probe, bodkin, needle, stiletto, rimer, warder, lancet
  • punch, puncheon
  • spikebit, gouge
  • spear etc. (weapon) Arms
  • puncher
  • punching machine, punching press
  • punch pliers.

Stopper

Nouns
  • stopper, stopple
  • plug, cork, bung, spike, spill, stopcock, tap
  • rammer
  • ram, ramrod
  • piston
  • stop-gap
  • wadding, stuffing, padding, stopping, dossil, pledget, tompion, tourniquet. cover etc. Covering
  • valve, vent peg, spigot, slide valve. janitor, doorkeeper, porter, warder, beadle, cerberus, ostiary.