curve
Americannoun
-
curves
plural
-
a continuously bending line, without angles.
-
the act or extent of curving.
-
any curved outline, form, thing, or part.
-
a curved section of a road, path, hallway, etc.
-
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.
-
Baseball.
-
the path followed by a ball pitched as a curveball.
The curve on that ball was nasty!
-
a graphic representation of the variations effected in something by the influence of changing conditions; graph.
-
Mathematics. a collection of points whose coordinates are continuous functions of a single independent variable.
-
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.
-
a curved guide used in drafting.
verb (used with object)
-
curves,
present (3rd person singular)
-
curved,
past participle, past
-
curving
present participle
-
to bend in a curve; cause to take the course of a curve.
-
to grade on a curve.
verb (used without object)
-
curves,
present (3rd person singular)
-
curved,
past participle, past
-
curving
present participle
-
to bend in a curve; take the course of a curve.
-
Baseball. to pitch a curveball.
After two forkballs, Stewart curved to Hernandez for a called strike.
adjective
idioms
-
throw (someone) a curve,
-
to take (someone) by surprise, especially in a negative way.
-
to mislead or deceive.
-
-
flatten the curve. see flatten the curve.
-
ahead of / behind the curve, at the forefront of (or lagging behind) recent developments, trends, etc.
noun
-
a continuously bending line that has no straight parts
-
something that curves or is curved, such as a bend in a road or the contour of a woman's body
-
the act or extent of curving; curvature
-
maths
-
a system of points whose coordinates satisfy a given equation; a locus of points
-
the graph of a function with one independent variable
-
-
a line representing data, esp statistical data, on a graph
an unemployment curve
-
ahead of the times; ahead of schedule
-
behind the times; behind schedule
-
short for French curve
verb
-
A line or surface that bends in a smooth, continuous way without sharp angles.
-
The graph of a function on a coordinate plane. In this technical sense, straight lines, circles, and waves are all curves.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
curvednessnoun
-
undercurvenoun
-
undercurveverb (used without object)
-
curvelessadjective
-
curvyadjective
-
uncurvedadjective
-
uncurvingadjective
-
well-curvedadjective
-
curvedlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
curvesimple
-
curvessimple
-
have curvedperfect
-
has curvedperfect
-
am curvingprogressive
-
are curvingprogressive
-
is curvingprogressive
-
have been curvingperfect progressive
-
has been curvingperfect progressive
Past
-
curvedsimple
-
had curvedperfect
-
was curvingprogressive
-
were curvingprogressive
-
had been curvingperfect progressive
Future
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Kenya's National Police Service told the BBC: "There are huge lessons picked from the day's events," which had "formed a fundamental learning curve for a better, more professional application in the future."
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
Astronomers study changes in an object's brightness using a graph called a light curve.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 10, 2026
“The pressure is on the long end of the U.S. Treasury curve given not only supply of Treasurys but also from the hyperscalers,” said Jens Peter Sorensen, chief analyst at Danske, in a note.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
But the hottest and driest summer on record has been a "steep learning curve" for islanders, said Lundy managing director Derek Green.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
They curve, dip, and arc toward us like they’re trying to make us dizzy first.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
As steep learning curves go, this one was off the scale.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026
The two-dimensional surface itself is finite and has no border because it curves back around.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 28, 2026
Like the trail, it’s a place with steep learning curves.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
These asymmetric assemblages, however, don’t feel precarious, but rather safely grounded, their rounded curves giving them a calming maternal presence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
Indeed, wherever Quetelet looked, he found a recurrent pattern: human features—even behaviors—were distributed in bell-shaped curves.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
The high, flared wheel arches, the tall, curved roof and the eye-like headlights are all reminders of the original "deux chevaux" or "two horses".
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
It has a paper cover and a flat spine, while the Chinese-made version is covered in fabric, with a curved spine.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
Its interior angles would add up to more than 180 degrees because the surface beneath it is curved.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 28, 2026
Laura Dern and Greta Gerwig laughed together by the entrance while Samuel L. Jackson plopped down on a curved bench, joking, “Hey, look what I did!”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026
The ship also carried a large supply of long poles, each of which had an extremely sharp, curved blade attached to one of its ends.
From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler
By curving his run, Amad cuts off the passing angle to PSG's wide player whilst applying pressure to Axel Koukaba.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
Wearing a shoe called “El Último Tango”—”The Last Dance”—Messi sent a corner kick curving into the most dangerous zone on the pitch, head-high just in front of the net.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 4, 2026
Gehry Partners, the architecture firm established by the late Frank Gehry in 2001, released renderings of its redesign, which includes a curving glass canopy above a staircase leading to the Lower Tram entrance.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2026
The Egyptian had been fouled on the edge of the area, making Qarabag pay when he took Dominik Szoboszlai's quick touch to send a curving left-foot free-kick past goalkeeper Mateusz Kochalski into the top corner.
From BBC ● Jan. 28, 2026
Nope, I didn’t meet anyone’s eyes as I placed one foot ahead of the other, following the curving street until the dented gold marina spire rose out of the bay in front of me.
From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
