perimeter

noun

1. 1

   The sum of the distance of all the lengths of the sides of an object.

2. 2

   The length of such a boundary.

3. 3

   The outer limits of an area.

   In 1977, Papa Wemba decided to change the name of his housing tract, in the outskirts of Kinshasa, to Village Molokai,² of which he declared himself traditional chief. Then, within this perimeter, he advocated a clothing style that featured, among its distinctions, a beret, and that went along with a way of walking, talking, and behaving toward others.

   Assuming her daughter had gone inside to escape the rain, she asked the store clerk if Jo-Anne was waiting inside. The clerk answered that she was no longer there. Visibly panicked, both split up and began scouring the parking lot and the building’s perimeter. They checked behind the store, trash bins, and around the payphone booth, yelling Jo-Anne’s name into the rain.

4. 4

   A fortified strip or boundary usually protecting a military position.

5. 5

   An instrument for determining the extent and shape of the field of vision.

Forms

plural

perimeters