A straight line or plane that touches a curve or curved surface at a point, but if extended does not cross it at that point. noun
The line was a tangent to the circle at point A.
In geometry, a tangent to a curve is a line that just touches the curve at a point.
A completely different line of thought or action. noun
During the meeting, she went off on a tangent about her vacation plans.
His speech was interesting, but he kept going off on tangents that confused the audience.
In trigonometry, the tangent of an angle is the ratio of the length of the opposite side to the length of the adjacent side in a right-angled triangle. noun
To find the tangent of the angle, divide the length of the opposite side by the length of the adjacent side.
The tangent function is one of the basic trigonometric functions used in mathematics.