arc

¹ American  

[ahrk] / ɑrk /

noun

1. Geometry. any unbroken part of the circumference of a circle or other curved line.

2. Also called electric arc.  Electricity. a luminous bridge formed in a gap between two electrodes.

3. Astronomy. the part of a circle representing the apparent course of a heavenly body.

4. anything bow-shaped.

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verb (used without object)

arced, arcked, arcing, arcking

1. to form an electric arc.

2. to move in a curve suggestive of an arc.

ARC ² American  

[ahrk] / ɑrk /

noun

1. Pathology. AIDS-related complex.

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ARC ³ American  

Or A.R.C.

abbreviation

1. American Red Cross.

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ARC ¹ British  

abbreviation

1. AIDS-related complex: an early condition in which a person infected with the AIDS virus may suffer from such mild symptoms as loss of weight, fever, etc

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arc ² British  

/ ɑːk /

noun

1. something curved in shape

2. part of an unbroken curved line

3. a luminous discharge that occurs when an electric current flows between two electrodes or any other two surfaces separated by a small gap and a high potential difference

4. astronomy a circular section of the apparent path of a celestial body

5. maths a section of a curve, graph, or geometric figure

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verb

1. (intr) to form an arc

prefix

1. maths specifying an inverse trigonometric function: usually written arcsin , arctan , arcsec , etc, or sometimes sin–1 , tan–1 , sec–1 , etc

arc Scientific  

/ ärk /

1. A segment of a circle.

2. See electric arc

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Etymology

Origin of arc

1350–1400; Middle English ark < Latin arcus bow, arch, curve

Example Sentences

It was only Dent’s second made three-pointer of the season and his first since the season opener after a string of 12 consecutive misses dropped his accuracy from beyond the arc to 7.7%.

From Los Angeles Times

His arc is just one of the ways the weirdness and anxiety inherent to life on the severed floor only deepened throughout these new episodes, presenting Lumon’s corporate culture as a cult.

From Salon

Dr. King was an American patriot who was martyred for trying to bend the arc of the moral universe to justice.

From Salon

The traditional story, with its narrative arcs and tailored meanings, is often viewed in the critical world with distrust, a type of artifice that belongs to less self-aware eras.

From The Wall Street Journal

It’s a sure sign that greed, not fear, is the current phase of the arc of Mr. McWilliams’s pendulum that nobody can be sure whether these digital blockhouses will ever generate a dollar of profit.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• arch