Spheroidal

Part of speech: adjective (a.)

Having the form of a spheroid. -- Sphe*roid"al*ly, adv. Spheroidal state (Physics.), the state of a liquid, as water, when, on being thrown on a surface of highly heated metal, it rolls about in spheroidal drops or masses, at a temperature several degrees below ebullition, and without actual contact with the heated surface, -- a phenomenon due to the repulsive force of heat, the intervention of a cushion of nonconducting vapor, and the cooling effect of evaporation.