number line

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

noun

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of number line¹

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

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

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

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

From Scientific American

We can appreciate how strange this result is by considering the number line, which is a way of understanding numbers by seeing them as points on a line.

From Literature