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

Sarah Wootton, chief executive of Dignity in Dying, said UK laws were "well behind the curve", with her organisation saying around 400 million people around the world have legal access to some form of assisted dying.

From BBC

But here we’re grading on a curve — and factoring in the reality that the same place where we can easily dash out on foot to grab a French dip sandwich or take in the symphony is also a place filled with enough dark alleys, vacant storefronts and litter-strewn sidewalks to make the on-foot feel on guard after dark.

From Los Angeles Times

Mastering so many new concepts came with a learning curve that no longer appears steep.

From Los Angeles Times

In one case - where a drone dropped an explosive on two pedestrians, injuring one of them so badly he could not walk - this was a curve at a T-junction, which pointed to the Dniprovs'kyi district or the nearby suburb of Antonivka, rather than Kherson city centre.

From BBC

But the features will likely have a steep learning curve for some users, so Apple Store employees are tasked with walking customers through them.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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