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.

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number line British  

noun

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

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• number lines
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of number line

First recorded in 1955–60

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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

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

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

Multiply by two and you stretch the number line by a factor of two; divide by two and you relax the rubber band by a factor of two, undoing the multiplication.

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

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