curve

[ kurv ]

noun

1. a continuously bending line, without angles.
2. the act or extent of curving.
3. any curved outline, form, thing, or part.
4. a curved section of a road, path, hallway, etc.
5. Railroads. a curved section of track: in the U.S. the curve is often expressed as the central angle, measured in degrees, of a curved section of track subtended by a chord 100 feet (30 meters) long degree of curve.
6. Baseball.
   1. curveball ( def ).
   2. the path followed by a ball pitched as a curveball:

      The curve on that ball was nasty!

7. a graphic representation of the variations effected in something by the influence of changing conditions; graph.
8. Mathematics. a collection of points whose coordinates are continuous functions of a single independent variable.
9. a misleading or deceptive trick; cheat; deception.
10. Education. a grading system based on the scale of performance, so that those performing better relative to others in the group, regardless of their actual knowledge of the subject, receive high grades: Compare absolute ( def 10 ).

    The new English professor grades on a curve.

11. a curved guide used in drafting.

verb (used with object)

, curved, curv·ing.

1. to bend in a curve; cause to take the course of a curve.
2. to grade on a curve.

verb (used without object)

, curved, curv·ing.

1. to bend in a curve; take the course of a curve.
2. Baseball. to pitch a curveball:

   After two forkballs, Stewart curved to Hernandez for a called strike.

adjective

1. having the shape of a curve; curved.

curve

/ ˈkɜːvɪdlɪ; kɜːv /

noun

1. a continuously bending line that has no straight parts
2. something that curves or is curved, such as a bend in a road or the contour of a woman's body
3. the act or extent of curving; curvature
4. maths
   1. a system of points whose coordinates satisfy a given equation; a locus of points
   2. the graph of a function with one independent variable
5. a line representing data, esp statistical data, on a graph

   an unemployment curve

6. ahead of the curve
   ahead of the times; ahead of schedule
7. behind the curve
   behind the times; behind schedule
8. short for French curve

verb

1. to take or cause to take the shape or path of a curve; bend

curve

/ kûrv /

1. A line or surface that bends in a smooth, continuous way without sharp angles.
2. The graph of a function on a coordinate plane. In this technical sense, straight lines, circles, and waves are all curves.

Derived Forms

• ˈcurvedness, noun
• ˈcurvy, adjective
• curvedly, adverb

Other Words From

• curv·ed·ly [kur, -vid-lee], adverb
• curv·ed·ness noun
• curve·less adjective
• un·curved adjective
• un·curv·ing adjective
• un·der·curve noun
• un·der·curve verb (used without object) undercurved undercurving
• well-curved adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of curve¹

First recorded in 1565–75; from Middle French or directly from Latin curvus “crooked, bent, curved”

Word History and Origins

Origin of curve¹

C15: from Latin curvāre to bend, from curvus crooked

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. ahead of / behind the curve, at the forefront of (or lagging behind) recent developments, trends, etc.
2. throw (someone) a curve,
   1. to take (someone) by surprise, especially in a negative way.
   2. to mislead or deceive.
3. flatten the curve. flatten the curve.

More idioms and phrases containing curve

see throw a curve .

Example Sentences

Given where he falls on aging curves, his prospect pedigree and the success of sons of former major leaguers,16 there are many indicators that suggest Tatís will have staying power as one of the game’s top players.

From FiveThirtyEight

There are 11 rows of seats curving around the balcony where you like to sit.

From MIT Technology Review

Ever since Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity recast gravity as curves in space-time, physicists have wondered if his work was the final word.

From Quanta Magazine

From 2007 to 2019, left-handers registered a substantially lower velocity for every type of pitch tracked, including not only higher-velocity pitches like fastballs and sinkers, but also sliders, changeups and curves.

From FiveThirtyEight

The best light for the pigments to absorb, then, was in the steepest parts of the intensity curve for the solar spectrum — the red and blue parts of the spectrum.

From Quanta Magazine

She and her sister went into business together in 1997, opening Curve Salon after a career in media.

From The Daily Beast

Instead, break out a form-fitting garment — think skinny jeans or a curve-hugging dress.

From The Daily Beast

In an airline seat, the hips and pelvis rotate forward and the S curve flattens.

From The Daily Beast

After acknowledging that there has been a “bend in the curve” and a reason to hope, he warned against inaction.

From The Daily Beast

“He also said, ‘We might be too ahead of the curve,’” Kudrow remembers.

From The Daily Beast

He drew her back to him, and she yielded and settled closely in the curve of his arm, and he told her the story.

From Project Gutenberg

There is a sharp curve in the permanent way outside the station, so that a train is on you all of a sudden.

From Project Gutenberg

The tunnel itself includes a reverse curve, and, at the present time, railroad tracks and Stock Creek waters run through it.

From Project Gutenberg

He kept on grimly, however, never deviating from his perspective, which was the swampy ground on the outer curve of the bend.

From Project Gutenberg

The children watched him disappear around the curve and then turned to Jess expectantly.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• bend
• buckle
• bulge
• coil
• crumple
• curl
• loop
• skew
• spiral
• swerve
• twist
• veer