curve

alternative pronunciation spelling cuhve

1. obsoleteBent without angles; crooked; curved.

   a curve line

   1 more example

   a curve surface

plural curves · alternative pronunciation spelling cuhve

1. A bend, such as in a road.

   You should slow down when approaching a curve.

   3 more examples

   But when we reflect that across the road at the centre of the arc of each curve there was a barricade, and cannon placed to rake the' intervals between the different barricades, the difficulties of the ascent, which is very steep, would be increased even to insurmountability.

   1877, John Joseph Henry, Account of Arnold's Campaign Against Quebec, J. Munsell, page 171

   In appearance, the bharal resembles both a sheep and a goat. Its horns are smooth, rounded and form a curve backwards over the neck. The fur is brownish grey in colour which attains a slaty grey hue in winter and becomes browner in summer. In Kumaun the bharal is found in the desolate tracts of northern Pithoragarh, usually on the slopes of the main Himalayan range where it lives between the timberline and the snowline.

   1993, Sharad Singh Negi, Kumaun: The Land and the People, page 106

   AROUND six years ago, Hyundai figured a 10-year warranty was not enough to attract shoppers and conjured up daring design for more attention. Sonata was the first to get the Fluidic Sculpture makeover, but the fifth-generation Elantra ended up being the swoopiest of the fleet. Hyundai’s newest gamble? Toning down those curves. […] Laugh at that detail now — you won’t when the sun is blinding you at 75 miles an hour on a curve.

   2016 April 28, Tom Voelk, “Video Review: Hyundai Elantra Offers Fewer Curves, but a Better Ride”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 08 Nov 2020

2. A simple figure containing no straight portions and no angles; a curved line.

   She scribbled a curve on the paper.

   1 more example

   However, it should be possible to give more sophisticated spherical spline curves based on the de Castaljau method that are computed using multiple slerps between pairs of points and which work well for arbitrary knot positions (indeed, knot insertion methods for spline curves should suffice for this, cf Farin [1993])

   2001 April, Samuel R. Buss, Jay P Fillmore, “Spherical averages and applications to spherical splines and interpolation”, in ACM Transactions on Graphics (TOG), volume 20, number 2

3. A grading system based on the scale of performance of a group used to normalize a right-skewed grade distribution (with more lower scores) into a bell curve, so that more can receive higher grades, regardless of their actual knowledge of the subject.

   The teacher was nice and graded the test on a curve.

   1. broadlynonstandardA grading system where all raw scores are raised by a set number of points.
4. analyticgeometryA continuous map from a one-dimensional space to a multidimensional space.
5. geometryA one-dimensional figure of non-zero length; the graph of a continuous map from a one-dimensional space.
6. algebraic geometryAn algebraic curve; a polynomial relation of the planar coordinates.
7. mathematicsA one-dimensional continuum.
8. informalplural normallyThe attractive shape of one's body, typically of a woman's.

present singular third person curves · participle present curving · participle past curved · past curved · alternative pronunciation spelling cuhve

1. transitiveTo bend; to crook.

   to curve a line

   1 more example

   to curve a pipe

2. transitiveTo cause to swerve from a straight course.

   to curve a ball in pitching it

3. intransitiveTo bend or turn gradually from a given direction.

   the road curves to the right

   3 more examples

   […] the shoulders not too wide above, bowing outward from the top to the breast; the back flat from shoulder to tail; the ribs extending horizontally and backwards, and then curving down barrelwise; […]

   1866, The Missouri Yearbook of Agriculture: Annual Report, Missouri. State Board of Agriculture, page 31

   The double-track branch curves away southwards at the south end of the station and runs on a banked down gradient gradually losing sight of the main line.

   1958 July 28, P. J. Norris, “The Bexhill West Branch”, in Railway Magazine, page 496

   Even without mobilization of the bone, the median eyelid angle can be deplaced in the nasal direction. For this purpose, we inserted a heart-shaped cartilage implant, curved toward the caruncula.

   1982, Sherrell J. Aston, Albert Hornblass, Murray A. Meltzer, et al., editors, Third International Symposium of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery of the Eye and Adnexa, Baltimore, MD: Williams & Wilkins Co., →ISBN, page 116

4. transitiveTo grade on a curve (bell curve of a normal distribution).

   The teacher will curve the test.

5. slangtransitiveTo reject, to turn down romantic advances.

   I was once curved three times by the same woman.