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.

---

number line British  

noun

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

---

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

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

From Scientific American • May 23, 2023

The absolute value function is often thought of as providing the distance the number is from zero on a number line.

From Textbooks • Sep. 23, 2020

Just as multiplying by zero causes the number line to collapse into a point, the vanishing point has caused most of the universe to sit in a tiny dot.

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