arc
[ahrk]
- Geometry. any unbroken part of the circumference of a circle or other curved line.
- Also called electric arc. Electricity. a luminous bridge formed in a gap between two electrodes.Compare spark1(def 2).
- Astronomy. the part of a circle representing the apparent course of a heavenly body.
- anything bow-shaped.
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- to form an electric arc.
- to move in a curve suggestive of an arc.
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Origin of arc
1350–1400; Middle English ark < Latin arcus bow, arch, curve
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for arcing
Contemporary Examples
That afternoon, on a hunch, Ray Molina, a longtime friend who lived in New Mexico, followed an arcing route south from the lodge.
I looked down at it, and this rope of blood just went [makes a shooting sound and an arcing motion through the air].
He later identified the occurrence in psychic literature as supernatural “arcing.”
Historical Examples
But the bolt caromed harmlessly off the side of the arcing Star Devil!
Hawk CarseAnthony Gilmore
Its resistance fell, the arcing decreased; the beam became orange and finally green.
The Last EvolutionJohn Wood Campbell
The sun was far below the horizon when it was finished, and the glowing, arcing forces that had made and formed it were stopped.
The Last EvolutionJohn Wood Campbell
It is better to have switches of some excess capacity, as the heavy metal stands the arcing much better.
Motion Picture Operation, Stage Electrics and IllusionsHenry C. Horstmann
Now the blue fireball was arcing down over the hillside, trailing its orange-red comet tail.
Tom Swift and The Visitor from Planet XVictor Appleton
arc
- something curved in shape
- part of an unbroken curved line
- a luminous discharge that occurs when an electric current flows between two electrodes or any other two surfaces separated by a small gap and a high potential difference
- astronomy a circular section of the apparent path of a celestial body
- maths a section of a curve, graph, or geometric figure
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- (intr) to form an arc
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- maths specifying an inverse trigonometric function: usually written arcsin, arctan, arcsec, etc, or sometimes sin –1, tan –1, sec –1, etc
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Word Origin
C14: from Old French, from Latin arcus bow, arch
ARC
- AIDS-related complex: an early condition in which a person infected with the AIDS virus may suffer from such mild symptoms as loss of weight, fever, etc
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for arcing
arc
n.
late 14c., originally in reference to the sun's apparent motion in the sky, from Old French arc "bow, arch, vault" (12c.), from Latin arcus "a bow, arch," from PIE root *arku- "bowed, curved" (cf. Gothic arhvazna "arrow," Old English earh, Old Norse ör; also, via notion of "supple, flexible," Greek arkeuthos, Latvian ercis "juniper," Russian rakita, Czech rokyta, Serbo-Croatian rakita "brittle willow"). Electrical sense is from 1821.
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arc
v.
1893, in the electrical sense, from arc (n.). Meaning "to move in an arc" attested by 1954. Related: Arced; arcing.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
arc
(ärk)- A curved line or segment of a circle.
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ARC
- AIDS-related complex
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
arc
[ärk]
- A segment of a circle.
- See electric arc.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.