number line

American  

noun

Mathematics.

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.

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number line British  

noun

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

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Etymology

Origin of number line

First recorded in 1955–60

Example Sentences

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

From Scientific American • Jul. 13, 2023

Even such bonkers-looking numbers, however, together with all the rational numbers, make up only a tiny fraction of the real numbers, or numbers that can appear along a number line.

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

Since decimals are forms of fractions, locating decimals on the number line is similar to locating fractions on the number line.

From Textbooks • May 6, 2020

If we start with a carpet the size of half an atom, we can cover all the rational numbers on the number line with carpets that, in total, take up less room than an atom.

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