normal curve

[nawr-muhl kurv]

noun

Statistics.

1. a bell curve showing a particular distribution of probability over the values of a random variable.

normal curve

noun

1. statistics a symmetrical bell-shaped curve representing the probability density function of a normal distribution. The area of a vertical section of the curve represents the probability that the random variable lies between the values which delimit the section

Word History and Origins

Origin of normal curve¹

First recorded in 1890–95

Example Sentences

Make sure your chair allows you to maintain the normal curves in your spine.

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While in a normal curve, Super Cruise will stay closer to the inside lane line, which is how most humans drive.

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Human behavior distributes itself along normal curves, and the people you're trying to pre-identify are by definition at the tail end of the curve, outliers, the hardest to predict.

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Second, scientists tend to think of men as machines, genes as their broken parts and variations in life as problems to be solved—aberrations outside the normal curve.

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Dr. Ranjan Sudan, vice chair of education for the Duke University Department of Surgery, says the acceptance barrier is only a temporary one, apt to follow the normal curve of innovation.

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