How to Use helical in a Sentence

helical

adjective
  • Sirius, the brightest star in the heavens, travels a helical path through space.
  • Closer to the galaxy's core, the jet takes on a helical form.
    — Sharmila Kuthunur, Space.com, 2 Oct. 2025
  • The mine has a helical tunnel that goes a kilometer and a half down.
    — Valerie Ross, Discover Magazine, 26 June 2012
  • The latest twist in the origin-of-life tale is double helical.
    — Ed Yong, Discover Magazine, 25 Aug. 2012
  • The magnetic field might be shaped like a spiral (called helical) or doughnut shaped (called toroidal).
    — Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 13 Aug. 2025
  • The spokes follow a helical pattern, like a spiral staircase leading through the inside of the bone.
    — Theresa MacHemer, Smithsonian Magazine, 16 Apr. 2021
  • In it, Kompfner revealed that the crucial idea of using a helical electrode was not his own.
    — IEEE Spectrum, 25 Aug. 2015
  • Best of all are helical cutter heads, which have a couple dozen small square knives that can deliver a near-perfect surface.
    — Bob Beacham, chicagotribune.com, 6 Oct. 2020
  • Still, no matter what their arrangement, the amino acids fold themselves into just a handful of helical shapes and sheets.
    — Charles S. Cockell, WSJ, 7 June 2018
  • That movie showed, for the first time, the twisting motions of the plasma, suggesting that the jet has a helical structure.
    — Eileen Meyer, Smithsonian, 15 May 2018
  • The team designed a soft, airless wheel that features elastic steel strips in a woven, crossed-helical pattern.
    — Chris Young, Interesting Engineering, 17 Dec. 2025
  • Or maybe Wilkins would have done so if Franklin hadn't left him with the impression that a helical structure had been ruled out.
    — George Johnson, Discover Magazine, 25 Apr. 2013
  • The two twisted helical stair stringers that support the treads are the structural beams that support the stairs and anyone going up and down them.
    — Tim Carter, Hartford Courant, 3 Jan. 2026
  • The task with the helical molecule took about the same amount of time in both environments, however.
    — Veronique Greenwood, New York Times, 3 July 2018
  • The helical teeth in the reduction gears have also been micro-polished to reduce their friction.
    — Csaba Csere, Car and Driver, 5 Apr. 2023
  • Often the magnetic field within a solar storm has a helical structure, twisted like a corkscrew.
    — Neel Savani, University Of Maryland, Discover Magazine, 10 June 2015
  • This wheel utilizes elastic steel strips arranged in a woven, crossed-helical pattern suitable for load bearing.
    — Abhimanyu Ghoshal, New Atlas, 17 Dec. 2025
  • As is typical with helical models, this type of cutterhead commands a higher price.
    — Alex Rennie, Popular Mechanics, 18 Nov. 2022
  • These helical tube lights create the effect of a meteor shower or falling snow, with each strand including eight foot-long tubes.
    — Corinne Sullivan, Woman's Day, 5 Aug. 2022
  • Nearly half had taken on new shapes; some had even developed twisting helical forms to swim, just like Spiroplasma.
    — Saugat Bolakhe, Scientific American, 17 Mar. 2023
  • The helical strip configuration allows for the wheel's load to be distributed throughout the wheel body.
    — Abhimanyu Ghoshal, New Atlas, 17 Dec. 2025
  • This is a relatively short, straight section of intestine with a helical (corkscrew-like) structure inside.
    — Ben Coxworth, New Atlas, 25 Sep. 2024
  • But actually, the tokamak is just one approach; there's a more complicated version that is helical in shape.
    — Chris Lee, Ars Technica, 9 June 2017
  • All of the pipes had a narrow open channel down the middle, which was surrounded by a helical structure that caused any liquid passing through the pipe to swirl forward.
    — Ben Coxworth, New Atlas, 25 Sep. 2024
  • The choice to use helical teeth instead of standard teeth was made to improve load distribution and to reduce operating noise.
    — New Atlas, 4 Oct. 2024
  • To solve this problem, the researchers looked at how helical waves are generated in light beams and then translated the idea to mechanical waves.
    — Chris Lee, Ars Technica, 2 Mar. 2022
  • On a pedestal at the foot of an impressive cantilevered helical staircase stands the ornate Taca de Portugal.
    — James Horncastle, New York Times, 10 June 2026
  • Faces turned away from Rihanna and up towards the museum's helical ramp where the models at long last began their descent down the runway.
    — Chloe Malle, Vogue, 7 Sep. 2024
  • The team was able to produce simple helical and cone shapes, as well as more complex saddles and twists (the latter achieved by introducing double-sided grooves).
    — Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 20 Oct. 2023
  • The combined effect sends the atoms around the tokamak in a symmetric and gradual helical twist and keeps them close to the center of the vessel rather than spinning out to the walls.
    — IEEE Spectrum, 28 Oct. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'helical.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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