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

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

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

From Scientific American • May 23, 2023

Figure 2.3 The inequality x ≤ 1 is graphed on this number line and written in interval notation.

From Textbooks • May 6, 2020

But nowadays everybody knows that zero can’t really sit anywhere on the number line, because it has a definite numerical value of its own.

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