Prolate adj. Stretched out; extended; especially, elongated in the direction of a line joining the poles; as, a prolate spheroid; opposed to oblate.
Prolate cycloid. See the Note under Cycloid.
Prolate ellipsoid or Prolate spheroid (Geom.), a figure generated by the revolution of an ellipse about its major axis. Contrasted with oblate spheroid. See Ellipsoid of revolution, under Ellipsoid.
... wheel of a coach rolls along the ground, any point of its periphery describes in the air a curve which is termed a cycloid; any point within the periphery traces a prolate or protracted cycloid, and any point exterior to the periphery traces a curtate or contracted cycloid—the prolate cycloid partaking more of the nature of a straight line, and the curtate cycloid more ... — A Catechism of the Steam Engine • John Bourne