number line

American  

noun

Mathematics.

number lines plural

1. a straight line on which there is indicated a one-to-one correspondence between points on the line and the set of real numbers.

---

number line British  

noun

1. an infinite line on which points represent the real numbers

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• number lines
  plural

Etymology

Origin of number line

First recorded in 1955–60

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

number line

For example, the number line is infinite, regardless of whether you start it at –∞, 0 or 1.

From Scientific American ● Jul. 13, 2023

The rest of the numbers on the number line are irrational numbers.

From Scientific American ● May 23, 2023

But it turns out that if you happened to pick out a number at random on a number line, you would almost certainly draw a “noncomputable” number.

From Scientific American ● May 23, 2023

If you view this example on a number line, it will help you to see that r is not between the two critical values.

From Textbooks ● Mar. 27, 2020

Born in 1596 in the middle of France, Descartes would bring zero to the center of the number line, and he would seek a proof of God in the void and the infinite.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife