curve
Americannoun
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curves
plural
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a continuously bending line, without angles.
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the act or extent of curving.
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any curved outline, form, thing, or part.
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a curved section of a road, path, hallway, etc.
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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.
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Baseball.
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the path followed by a ball pitched as a curveball.
The curve on that ball was nasty!
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a graphic representation of the variations effected in something by the influence of changing conditions; graph.
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Mathematics. a collection of points whose coordinates are continuous functions of a single independent variable.
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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.
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a curved guide used in drafting.
verb (used with object)
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curves,
present (3rd person singular)
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curved,
past participle, past
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curving
present participle
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to bend in a curve; cause to take the course of a curve.
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to grade on a curve.
verb (used without object)
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curves,
present (3rd person singular)
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curved,
past participle, past
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curving
present participle
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to bend in a curve; take the course of a curve.
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Baseball. to pitch a curveball.
After two forkballs, Stewart curved to Hernandez for a called strike.
adjective
idioms
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throw (someone) a curve,
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to take (someone) by surprise, especially in a negative way.
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to mislead or deceive.
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flatten the curve. see flatten the curve.
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ahead of / behind the curve, at the forefront of (or lagging behind) recent developments, trends, etc.
noun
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a continuously bending line that has no straight parts
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something that curves or is curved, such as a bend in a road or the contour of a woman's body
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the act or extent of curving; curvature
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maths
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a system of points whose coordinates satisfy a given equation; a locus of points
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the graph of a function with one independent variable
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a line representing data, esp statistical data, on a graph
an unemployment curve
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ahead of the times; ahead of schedule
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behind the times; behind schedule
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short for French curve
verb
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A line or surface that bends in a smooth, continuous way without sharp angles.
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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
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curvednessnoun
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undercurvenoun
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undercurveverb (used without object)
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curvelessadjective
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curvyadjective
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uncurvedadjective
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uncurvingadjective
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well-curvedadjective
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curvedlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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curvesimple
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curvessimple
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have curvedperfect
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has curvedperfect
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am curvingprogressive
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are curvingprogressive
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is curvingprogressive
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have been curvingperfect progressive
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has been curvingperfect progressive
Past
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curvedsimple
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had curvedperfect
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was curvingprogressive
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were curvingprogressive
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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:
What troubles Howell is that central banks have been relying on issuance of bonds at the short end of the curve, buybacks and money market liquidity to maintain long-term yields.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026
Wallace said he had always been a keen photographer and had been on a learning curve with the tech involved in capturing outer space, including galaxies and nebula.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
In a recent report shared with MarketWatch, David Rosenberg, founder of Rosenberg Research, said an expanding term premium is a durable trend that will continue to steepen the yield curve.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026
He talked of getting in front of the investment curve by developing in the Balkans, where tourism and property prices are rising, targeting Serbia and Albania.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
But if you throw a rock fast enough, it won’t curve back down to earth; it will zoom out of the earth’s atmosphere and escape the earth’s gravitational pull.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
You can do the arithmetic: about 20 curves per mile, speed limit 15 mph.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026
In the same way a dismal class performance on a business school exam will still yield some A’s, curves also apply in the stock market when a company’s results aren’t necessarily jumping off the page.
From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026
The new robotaxi features a lighter interior color palette, added padding, and ergonomic curves in the seats and headrests.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026
"I went to run with him high in the mountains. It was tough to follow him – he knew all the curves and the jumps, and it was not easy for me," Volpini recalls.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
Our water is the Appalachian wilderness, our boats, the army surplus jeeps we count on to navigate our washboard roads and the hairpin curves across the mountains.
From "Jacob Have I Loved" by Katherine Paterson
Designed to blend into the historic Baroque park, they are notable for their curved ceramic facades, daylight from skylights, accessibility features, drinking fountains -- and free use.
From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026
The eatery features Midcentury Modern touches with curved cherry wood walls and paneled ceilings, as well as illuminated white onyx Corian surfaces.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
Additionally, the home has a den, built-in storage, curved staircase, outdoor movie pavilion, and 50-foot-long lap pool designed by Johnston Vidal.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026
Binoculars or a small telescope can provide a closer look as the curved edge of Earth's shadow moves across the lunar surface.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 5, 2026
It was black, with big handlebars that curved round, a black bell and a basket on the front.
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
Another side features a curving surface descending from the apex for winter sledding.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 8, 2026
Origami models sometimes rely on folding or curving of paper for additional stiffness.
From BBC ● Mar. 3, 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
To Baier he said: “My prediction is that, first quarter, second quarter, what we are going to see, we have brought this inflation down, it is curving down.”
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 19, 2025
No one had to dream up shutters and window boxes and trim, or porches and turrets and wide curving staircases.
From "Breadcrumbs" by Anne Ursu
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.
