Curve
Curve (kûrv) , adjective
[Latin curvus bent, curved. See Cirb.]
Bent without angles; crooked; curved; as, a curve line; a curve surface.
Curve , noun
[See Curve, a., Cirb.]
1.
A bending without angles; that which is bent; a flexure; as, a curve in a railway or canal.
2.
(Geometry) A line described according to some low, and having no finite portion of it a straight line.
Collocations (4)
Axis of a curve , See under Axis.
Curve of quickest descent , See Brachystochrone.
Curve tracing (Mathematics) , the process of determining the shape, location, singular points, and other peculiarities of a curve from its equation.
Plane curve (Geometry) , a curve such that when a plane passes through three points of the curve, it passes through all the other points of the curve. Any other curve is called a curve of double curvature, or a twisted curve.
Curve (kûrvd) , transitive verb
[Latin curvare., from curvus. See Curve, a., Curb.]
To bend; to crook; as, to curve a line; to curve a pipe; to cause to swerve from a straight course; as, to curve a ball in pitching it.
Curve , intransitive verb
To bend or turn gradually from a given direction; as, the road curves to the right.