GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

last match results

Found 4 definitions

1.       
   Curve (kûrv), a. [L. curvus bent, curved. See Cirb.] Bent without angles; crooked; curved; as, “a curve line; a curve surface”.
   
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2.       
   Curve, n. [See Curve, a., Cirb.]
   1. A bending without angles; that which is bent; a flexure; as, “a curve in a railway or canal”.
   
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   2. (Geom.) A line described according to some low, and having no finite portion of it a straight line.
   
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   Axis of a curve. See under Axis. -- Curve of quickest descent. See Brachystochrone. -- Curve tracing (Math.), the process of determining the shape, location, singular points, and other peculiarities of a curve from its equation. -- Plane curve (Geom.), 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.
   
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3.       
   Curve, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Curved (kûrvd); p. pr. & vb. n. Curving.] [L. curvare., fr. 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”.
   
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4.       
   Curve, v. i. To bend or turn gradually from a given direction; as, “the road curves to the right”.
   
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