flatten the curve

verb

To reduce the rate at which an infection spreads during an epidemic, decreasing the number of active cases at any given time by increasing the period of time over which numbers of similar cases occur.

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Meanings

verbflatten the curve (third-person singular simple present flattens the curve, present participle flattening the curve, simple past and past participle flattened the curve)

present singular third person flattens the curve · participle present flattening the curve · participle past flattened the curve · past flattened the curve

  1. colloquialepidemiologyTo reduce the rate at which an infection spreads during an epidemic, decreasing the number of active cases at any given time by increasing the period of time over which numbers of similar cases occur.

    It is possible that these measures could have started to flatten the curve of deaths before the effects of the wider lockdown were visible.

    2020 April 6, Robert Cuffe, Christine Jeavans, “Coronavirus: When will we know if the UK lockdown is working?”, in BBC News

Translations

Catalan aplanar la corba
  • aplanar la corbato reduce the rate at which an infection spreads during an epidemic
Chinese Mandarin 壓平曲線 /压平曲线
  • 壓平曲線 /压平曲线 (yāpíng qūxiàn)to reduce the rate at which an infection spreads during an epidemic
Danish flade kurven ud
  • flade kurven udto reduce the rate at which an infection spreads during an epidemic
Finnish madaltaa käyrää
  • madaltaa käyrääto reduce the rate at which an infection spreads during an epidemic
French aplatir la courbe
  • aplatir la courbeto reduce the rate at which an infection spreads during an epidemic
Malay datarkan keluk, landaikan keluk
  • datarkan kelukto reduce the rate at which an infection spreads during an epidemic
  • landaikan kelukto reduce the rate at which an infection spreads during an epidemic
Spanish aplanar la curva
  • aplanar la curvato reduce the rate at which an infection spreads during an epidemic
Swedish platta ut kurvan, platta till kurvan
  • platta ut kurvanto reduce the rate at which an infection spreads during an epidemic
  • platta till kurvanto reduce the rate at which an infection spreads during an epidemic
Vietnamese san phẳng đường cong
  • san phẳng đường congto reduce the rate at which an infection spreads during an epidemic
Cite this entry
APA

flatten the curve. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/flatten%20the%20curve

MLA

“flatten the curve.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/flatten%20the%20curve. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “flatten the curve,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/flatten%20the%20curve.

Source: flatten the curve on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.