Bowshaped

Bowshaped, or bow-shaped, is an adjective describing something that has the form of a bow—a slender, smoothly curved arc with ends that taper toward the sides and a central bulge. The term conveys a crescent-like silhouette and is used across fields to describe shapes that resemble a bow rather than a straight line or simple circle.

In geometry, design, and engineering, bow-shaped describes curves or profiles that resemble a bow, including arches, beams, or decorative elements with a bowed contour. In architecture, bow-shaped arches and vaults are used to create curved spans and ornamental features. In biology and medicine, the descriptor applies to structures that exhibit a crescent-like curvature, such as certain cartilage bands, ligaments, or outlines of tissues. In microbiology, some curved bacteria or cells may be described as bow-shaped.

In botany, bow-shaped can describe leaves or petals whose margins follow a shallow arc. In astronomy and physics, the term appears in phrases such as bow-shaped shock fronts or isophotes, referring to crescent-like regions around objects or phenomena.

The term is typically hyphenated as bow-shaped, though some writers may render it as bowshaped. It is a qualitative, descriptive term rather than a precise measurement, used to convey the overall silhouette of an object.