curve

American  

[kurv] / kɜrv /

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.

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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.

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.

curve British  

/ 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

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verb

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

curve Scientific  

/ kûrv /

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.

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curve More Idioms  

1. see throw a curve.

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Other Word Forms

• curvedly adverb
• curvedness noun
• curveless adjective
• curvy adjective
• uncurved adjective
• uncurving adjective
• undercurve noun
• well-curved adjective

Etymology

Origin of curve

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

Explanation

A curve is an arched or bent shape, like the curve of a smiling mouth or the curve of a road that twists and turns as you drive along the coast. As a noun, a curve can be any shape that deviates from being perfectly straight. You can trace a curve on a graph, throw an arcing pitch in baseball called a curve ball, or just admire the curves of the rolling hills in the distance. And as a verb, curve means to make or form this non-straight shape: "When she's happy, my dog's tail curves up over her back."

Example Sentences

Hartnett thinks the short end of the Treasury yield curve will outperform the long end, as he views the Federal Reserve as unlikely to enact rate increases, thereby boosting longer-term inflation expectations.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 13, 2026

The photo paired the delicate, watery planet Earth with the harsh, huge curve of the Moon, separated by black space -- and recalled 1968's iconic "Earthrise" image.

From Barron's • Apr. 10, 2026

“Despite recent market volatility, the 7-year area of the BTP curve has been quite smooth,” the fixed income strategist says.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026

Traditional shuttlecocks are made of 16 duck or goose feathers - each taken from the same wing to give the correct flight and spin as feathers from different wings curve differently.

From BBC • Apr. 8, 2026

And now, I’m standing so close to the glass, I can almost see myself in its reflection: the faint curve of my cheek, the straight line of my nose, the dark gleam of my eyes.

From "The Sea in Winter" by Christine Day

Related Words

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