distribution curve

noun

Statistics.

1. the curve or line of a graph in which cumulative frequencies are plotted as ordinates and values of the variate as abscissas.

Example Sentences

That system equalizes rates but also means that users subsidize a lot of music they never listen to, and the high-yield “head” of the distribution curve — superstars like Drake and Dua Lipa — benefits most.

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The distribution curve they found peaked around medium-sized shells, then dropped as the shells got larger, before tapering off very gradually through the largest shells of all.

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“You should make a data bank of all the men you’ve dated, then analyze them the same way you would use a spectroscope, and create a distribution curve of their major characteristics.”

Read more on Slate

By making the distribution curve look like the graph below where distribution declines as content gets more sensational, people are disincentivized from creating provocative content that is as close to the line as possible.

Read more on The Verge

Most prominently, the page showing a journal’s impact factor now includes a distribution curve displaying the total number of articles and other items published in a journal versus the number of times each item was cited.

Read more on Science Magazine