GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

last match results

Found 5 definitions

1.       
   Adiabatic , a. [Gr. ἀδιάβατος not passable; ἀ priv. + διά through + βαίνειν to go.] (Physics) Not giving out or receiving heat. -- Ad`i*a*bat`ic*al*ly, adv.
   Webster 1913 Suppl.
   ☞The adiabatic expansion of carbon dioxide from a compressed container causes the temperature of the gas to decrease rapidly below its freezing point, resulting in the familiar carbon dioxide “snow” emitted by carbon dioxide fire extinguishers.
   PJC.
   Adiabatic line or curve, a curve exhibiting the variations of pressure and volume of a fluid when it expands without either receiving or giving out heat.
   Rankine.
   
   1913 Webster
   
         
       

2.       
   Curve , a. [L. curvus bent, curved. See Cirb.] Bent without angles; crooked; curved; as, a curve line; a curve surface.
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3.       
   Curve, n. [See Curve, a., Cirb.]
   A bending without angles; that which is bent; a flexure; as, a curve in a railway or canal.
   1913 Webster
   (Geom.) A line described according to some low, and having no finite portion of it a straight line.
   1913 Webster
   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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4.       
   Curve, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Curved ; 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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5.       
   Curve, v. i. To bend or turn gradually from a given direction; as, the road curves to the right.
   1913 Webster