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).
Also called curve ball,curveball. Baseball.
a pitch delivered with a spin that causes the ball to veer from a normal straight path, away from the side from which it was thrown.
the course of such a pitched ball.
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.
a misleading or deceptive trick; cheat; deception.
Education. a grading system based on the scale of performance of a group, so that those performing better, regardless of their actual knowledge of the subject, receive high grades: The new English professor marks on a curve.Compare absolute(def 10).
a curved guide used in drafting.
verb (used with object),curved,curv·ing.
to bend in a curve; cause to take the course of a curve.
to grade on a curve.
Baseball. to pitch a curve to.
verb (used without object),curved,curv·ing.
to bend in a curve; take the course of a curve.
adjective
having the shape of a curve; curved.
Idioms
ahead of/behindthe curve, at the forefront of (or lagging behind) recent developments, trends, etc.
throw (someone) a curve,
to take (someone) by surprise, especially in a negative way.
1690s, "curved line," from curve (v.). With reference to the female figure (usually plural, curves), from 1862; as a type of baseball pitch, from 1879.
curve
v.
early 15c. (implied in curved), from Latin curvus "crooked, curved, bent," and curvare "to bend," both from PIE root *(s)ker- "to turn, bend" (see ring (n.)).
