flatten the curve

[ flat-n thuh kurv ]

idiom

1. (during a disease outbreak) to use public health measures to achieve a more gradual increase and decrease in the number of new cases, spreading the same total number of cases over a longer period of time, as depicted by a gently sloping curved line on a graph:

   Flattening the curve will prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed with patients.

Word History and Origins

Origin of flatten the curve¹

First recorded in 2005–10

Example Sentences

“If we can flatten the curve of demand on the student loan servicing environment by having people reach out in June, July and August … we can mitigate some of the pressures that are going to come to the system,” Buchanan said.

From Los Angeles Times

The question for this year, Mr. Olivet said, is “whether we were able to flatten the curve and even start pointing downwards.”

From New York Times

You can “flatten the curve” of addiction, using treatment and other strategies, as surely as with a virus.

From Seattle Times

At times the city’s crime itself has seemed like a virus, spreading and injuring countless victims and businesses, all while city leaders in 2020 and 2021 had no coherent plan to “flatten the curve.”

From Seattle Times

For more than a year, AP journalists interviewed sources and pored over thousands of documents to trace how technologies marketed to “flatten the curve” were put to other uses.

From Washington Times