curve

[kurv]

noun

1. a continuously bending line, without angles.

2. the act or extent of curving.

3. any curved outline, form, thing, or part.

4. a curved section of a road, path, hallway, etc.

5. Railroads.,  a curved section of track: in the U.S. the curve is often expressed as the central angle, measured in degrees, of a curved section of track subtended by a chord 100 feet (30 meters) long degree of curve.

6. Baseball.

   1. curveball.

   2. the path followed by a ball pitched as a curveball.

      The curve on that ball was nasty!

7. a graphic representation of the variations effected in something by the influence of changing conditions; graph.

8. Mathematics.,  a collection of points whose coordinates are continuous functions of a single independent variable.

9. a misleading or deceptive trick; cheat; deception.

10. Education.,  a grading system based on the scale of performance, so that those performing better relative to others in the group, regardless of their actual knowledge of the subject, receive high grades.

    The new English professor grades on a curve.

11. a curved guide used in drafting.

verb (used with object)

curved, curving 

1. to bend in a curve; cause to take the course of a curve.

2. to grade on a curve.

verb (used without object)

curved, curving 

1. to bend in a curve; take the course of a curve.

2. Baseball.,  to pitch a curveball.

   After two forkballs, Stewart curved to Hernandez for a called strike.

adjective

1. having the shape of a curve; curved.

curve

/ ˈkɜːvɪdlɪ, kɜːv /

noun

1. a continuously bending line that has no straight parts

2. something that curves or is curved, such as a bend in a road or the contour of a woman's body

3. the act or extent of curving; curvature

4. maths

   1. a system of points whose coordinates satisfy a given equation; a locus of points

   2. the graph of a function with one independent variable

5. a line representing data, esp statistical data, on a graph

   an unemployment curve

6. ahead of the times; ahead of schedule

7. behind the times; behind schedule

8. short for French curve

verb

1. to take or cause to take the shape or path of a curve; bend

curve

1. A line or surface that bends in a smooth, continuous way without sharp angles.

2. The graph of a function on a coordinate plane. In this technical sense, straight lines, circles, and waves are all curves.

Other Word Forms

• curvedly adverb
• curvedness noun
• curveless adjective
• uncurved adjective
• uncurving adjective
• undercurve verb (used without object)
• well-curved adjective
• curvy adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of curve¹

First recorded in 1565–75; from Middle French or directly from Latin curvus “crooked, bent, curved”

Word History and Origins

Origin of curve¹

C15: from Latin curvāre to bend, from curvus crooked

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. throw (someone) a curve,

   1. to take (someone) by surprise, especially in a negative way.

   2. to mislead or deceive.

2. flatten the curve. flatten the curve.

3. ahead of / behind the curve, at the forefront of (or lagging behind) recent developments, trends, etc.

see throw a curve.

Example Sentences

He said he sees no risk of Japan falling behind the policy curve, suggesting the BOJ is in no rush to tighten policy settings.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The creature had a large mouth and long fins and a wide back that curved down into the water.

Read more on Literature

Treasury yields edged higher in Asian trade across the curve except for the two-year maturity, but moves were overall small after this week’s major central-bank policy decisions.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Treasurys sold off, sending yields up and flattening the curve, as Fed Chair Powell threw some cold water on forecasts of another interest rate cut in December.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The sand depressions visible in images mark these nests: some stand alone at the bottom right, others form curved lines at the center, and still others cluster together at the top left.

Read more on Science Daily

Related Words

• bend 
• buckle 
• bulge 
• coil 
• crumple 
• curl 
• loop 
• skew 
• spiral 
• swerve 
• twist 
• veer