curve
Americannoun
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a continuously bending line, without angles.
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the act or extent of curving.
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any curved outline, form, thing, or part.
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a curved section of a road, path, hallway, etc.
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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.
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Baseball.
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the path followed by a ball pitched as a curveball.
The curve on that ball was nasty!
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a graphic representation of the variations effected in something by the influence of changing conditions; graph.
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Mathematics. a collection of points whose coordinates are continuous functions of a single independent variable.
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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.
The new English professor grades on a curve.
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a curved guide used in drafting.
verb (used with object)
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to bend in a curve; cause to take the course of a curve.
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to grade on a curve.
verb (used without object)
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to bend in a curve; take the course of a curve.
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Baseball. to pitch a curveball.
After two forkballs, Stewart curved to Hernandez for a called strike.
adjective
idioms
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throw (someone) a curve,
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to take (someone) by surprise, especially in a negative way.
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to mislead or deceive.
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flatten the curve. flatten the curve.
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ahead of / behind the curve, at the forefront of (or lagging behind) recent developments, trends, etc.
noun
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a continuously bending line that has no straight parts
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something that curves or is curved, such as a bend in a road or the contour of a woman's body
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the act or extent of curving; curvature
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maths
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a system of points whose coordinates satisfy a given equation; a locus of points
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the graph of a function with one independent variable
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a line representing data, esp statistical data, on a graph
an unemployment curve
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ahead of the times; ahead of schedule
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behind the times; behind schedule
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short for French curve
verb
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A line or surface that bends in a smooth, continuous way without sharp angles.
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The graph of a function on a coordinate plane. In this technical sense, straight lines, circles, and waves are all curves.
Other Word Forms
- curvedly adverb
- curvedness noun
- curveless adjective
- curvy adjective
- uncurved adjective
- uncurving adjective
- undercurve noun
- well-curved adjective
Etymology
Origin of curve
First recorded in 1565–75; from Middle French or directly from Latin curvus “crooked, bent, curved”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
According to the Colorado State Patrol, Ponder was driving a 2023 Tesla Model 3 at around 3 a.m. when he lost control on a righthand curve.
From Los Angeles Times
Last June, Naomi Welikala noticed a line curving around the block of her local American Legion, an unassuming building that rarely invited commotion.
From Los Angeles Times
U.S. natural gas settled lower with the April contract moving to the front of the curve.
One of Gyllenhaal’s biggest learning curves in directing “The Lost Daughter” was figuring out how to speak to each actor individually to get the most out of them.
From Los Angeles Times
“It’s all on a curve. Even the best could be done better,” he says.
From MarketWatch
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
