oval vs spiral

oval

adj
  • Having the shape of an oval. 

  • Of or pertaining to an ovum. 

noun
  • A thing having such a shape, such as an arena. 

  • In a projective plane, a set of points such that no three are collinear and there is a unique tangent line at each point. 

  • An elongated round shape resembling an egg or ellipse. 

  • A sports field, typically but not exclusively oval in shape. 

spiral

adj
  • Helical, like a spiral. 

verb
  • To increase continually. 

  • To cause something to spiral. 

  • To move along the path of a spiral or helix. 

noun
  • A helix. 

  • A section of track that forms a circle and crosses over itself, used for gaining height in mountainous territory. 

  • A self-sustaining process with a lot of momentum involved, so it is difficult to accelerate or stop it at once. 

  • A curve that is the locus of a point that rotates about a fixed point while continuously increasing its distance from that point. 

How often have the words oval and spiral occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )