# disc

Pronunciation: say "DISK" /dɪsk/

## Noun

1. A thin, flat, circular plate, or any object of a similar shape.
   - Simple: A thin, flat, round object, like a coin.
   - _The token was a small disc of brass stamped with the company's name._
   - _The museum displayed bronze discs engraved with star maps._
2. Any of the cushioning pads of cartilage that sit between neighboring vertebrae of the spine.
   - Simple: One of the small cushions between the bones of your back.
   - _The MRI showed a herniated disc between two vertebrae in her lower back._
   - _Years of heavy lifting had left the discs in his neck worn and thin._
3. Alternative form of disk. — Alternative form of disk
   - Simple: Alternative form of disk. This spelling means the same as disk.
   - _Any point inside the unit disc lies less than one unit from the origin._
   - _The sun sank toward the horizon, a glowing orange disc above the sea._
4. A vinyl record, of the kind played on a phonograph or gramophone.
   - Simple: A vinyl record that you play on a record player.
   - _The DJ slid the disc from its sleeve and lowered the needle onto the first track._
   - _Collectors pay high prices for rare jazz discs pressed in the 1950s._
5. Anything that looks like a flat, round plate, such as the visible face of the sun or a planet.
   - Simple: Something that looks round and flat, like the sun or a planet seen in the sky.
   - _During the transit, a small black dot crept slowly across the sun's disc._
   - _From the hilltop, the frozen pond was a silver disc among the dark trees._
6. Short for flying disc, a frisbee. — Ellipsis of flying disc; synonym of frisbee; generic name for the trademark Frisbee.
   - Simple: Short for flying disc. Players use it to mean a frisbee.
   - _The handler flicked the disc low across the field, and she laid out to catch it in the end zone._
   - _On the first hole, his drive sent the disc deep into the trees._
7. The flat surface of a plant organ such as a leaf, or any flat, round growth on a plant.
   - Simple: The flat part of a leaf or other plant part, or any flat, round growth on a plant.
   - _The broad disc of a nasturtium leaf sheds raindrops easily._
   - _Flat, reddish discs dotted the underside of the oak leaves where gall wasps had laid their eggs._

## Verb

8. To harrow ground with a disc harrow, breaking up and leveling the soil.
   - Simple: To break up and smooth the soil of a field with a farm tool called a disc harrow.
   - _Many farmers disc the stubble under in the fall to speed up its breakdown._
   - _Discing the alfalfa lightly in early spring helps keep the weeds down._
9. Of a propeller, to move toward or operate at zero blade pitch, turning the blades flat to the oncoming air so the propeller produces maximum drag.
   - Simple: Of a plane's propeller, to turn its blades flat to the air so they slow the plane as much as possible.
   - _Pilots are trained to feather a propeller quickly before it can disc on a dead engine._
   - _As the aircraft touched down, both propellers disced, and the extra drag helped slow it on the runway._

## Origin

From French disque, from Latin discus, from Ancient Greek δίσκος (dískos, “disk, quoit, platter”). It is a doublet of dais, desk, discus, dish, disk and diskos.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/disc (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).