The contact angle is an important boundary condition needed to predict
the shape of menisci. However, its measurement and use under dynamic
conditions are not well understood. We have measured the shape of meni
sci very close to moving contact lines over a suite of geometric shape
s for the macroscopic menisci. The excellent agreement between theory
and experiment establishes that the proposed boundary condition charac
terizes only the materials of the system. Implications for the microsc
opic physics controlling the dynamic contact angle are explored.