as in spiral
turning around an axis like the thread of a screw Sirius, the brightest star in the heavens, travels a helical path through space

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of helical Power is sent through a 6-speed short-throw manual transmission to the front wheels through a helical limited-slip differential. Michael Harley, Forbes.com, 11 Sep. 2025 Bless Volkswagen for keeping the helical gears turning, both literally and figuratively. ArsTechnica, 27 Aug. 2025 The magnetic field might be shaped like a spiral (called helical) or doughnut shaped (called toroidal). Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 13 Aug. 2025 These consist of arrays of small antennas, each fed with a signal at a shifted phase to create the helical wave. IEEE Spectrum, 25 Apr. 2012 See All Example Sentences for helical
Recent Examples of Synonyms for helical
Adjective
  • While fans may no longer watch those familiar white discs spiral across the field, the memories remain—etched in photos, in inside jokes, and in the hearts of those who once stood shoulder to shoulder, laughing as flour dust filled the West Texas air.
    Jessica Safavimehr, Southern Living, 24 Oct. 2025
  • In Hubble's recent image, NGC 6951 unfurls its graceful spiral arms, covered in red nebulae glowing with hydrogen gas, a key fuel for new stars.
    Kenna Hughes-Castleberry, Space.com, 20 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • Thake took a long and winding trip down the memories of South Yorkshire football, a path which eventually led him to the living room of a shy, almost reclusive Rotherham man called Terry Moran.
    Nick Miller, New York Times, 30 Sep. 2025
  • The Didi and Gogo that Sparks and Shannon created were full of blood and bile, real people with — no matter how obscured in its details by time and circumstance — a long and winding relationship.
    Sara Holdren, Vulture, 29 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Helical.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/helical. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.

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