What does curve mean?we found 13 entries for the meaning of curve
 

Adiabatic \Ad`i*a*bat"ic\, a. [Gr. 'adia`batos not passable; 'a priv. + dia` through + bai`nein to go.]

(Physics) Not giving out or receiving heat. -- Ad`i*a*bat`ic*al*ly, adv. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

Note: 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]

Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
 

 

Curve \Curve\ (k[^u]rv), a. [L. curvus bent, curved. See Cirb.]

Bent without angles; crooked; curved; as, a curve line; a curve surface. [1913 Webster]

Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
 

 

Curve \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. [1913 Webster]

2. (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. [1913 Webster]

Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
 

 

Curve \Curve\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Curved (k[^u]rvd); 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. [1913 Webster]

Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
 

 

Curve \Curve\, v. i. To bend or turn gradually from a given direction; as, the road curves to the right. [1913 Webster]

Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
 

 

198 Moby Thesaurus words for "curve": aberrancy, aberration, arc, arch, artful dodge, artifice, bag of tricks, bear off, bend, bend back, bias, blind, bluff, bosey, bow, bowl, branch off, branching off, cast, catacaustic, catch, catenary, caustic, change of pace, change the bearing, change-up, chicanery, chouse, chuck, chunk, circle, circuit, circuitousness, circumference, coil, compass, conchoid, corner, crook, curl, curvation, curvature, curve-ball, declination, decurve, deflect, depart from, departure, design, detour, deviance, deviancy, deviate, deviation, device, deviousness, diacaustic, diffract, diffuse, digress, digression, dirty deal, dirty trick, discursion, disperse, distort, divagate, divagation, divaricate, divarication, diverge, divergence, diversion, divert, dodge, dogleg, dome, double, downcurve, drift, drifting, ellipse, embow, errantry, excursion, excursus, exorbitation, fast deal, fastball, feint, festoon, fetch, ficelle, flex, fling, flip, forward pass, gambit, gimmick, googly, hairpin, heave, heel, hocus-pocus, hook, hump, hunch, hurl, hyperbola, incurvate, incurvation, incurvature, incurve, indirection, inflect, inflection, joker, juggle, knuckleball, lateral, lateral pass, lituus, lob, loop, obliquity, outcurve, parabola, pass, peg, pererration, pitch, ploy, pull, put, rambling, recurve, reflect, reflex, refract, retroflex, rondure, round, ruse, sag, scatter, scheme, screwball, scurvy trick, serve, service, sheer, shift, shifting, shifting course, shifting path, shot-put, shy, sinker, sinus, skew, slant, sleight, sleight of hand, sleight-of-hand trick, slider, sling, spiral, spitball, spitter, stratagem, straying, subterfuge, swag, sweep, swerve, swerving, swinging, tack, throw, toss, tracery, trend, trick, turn, turn aside, turning, twist, upcurve, variation, vary, vault, veer, wandering, warp, wile, wind, yaw, zigzag

Source: Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
 

 

curve

noun

1: the trace of a point whose direction of motion changes [syn: curved shape] [ant: straight line]
2: a line on a graph representing data
3: a baseball thrown with spin so that its path curves as it approach the batter [syn: curve ball, breaking ball, bender]
4: the property possessed by the curving of a line or surface [syn: curvature]
5: curved segment (of a road or river or railroad track etc.) [syn: bend]

verb

1: turn sharply; change direction abruptly; "The car cut to the left at the intersection"; "The motorbike veered to the right" [syn: swerve, sheer, trend, veer, slue, slew, cut]
2: extend in curves and turns; "The road winds around the lake" [syn: wind]
3: form an arch or curve; "her back arches"; "her hips curve nicely" [syn: arch, arc]
4: bend or cause to bend; "He crooked his index finger"; "the road curved sharply" [syn: crook]
5: form a curl, curve, or kink; "the cigar smoke curled up at the ceiling" [syn: curl, kink]

Source: WordNet (r) 2.0
 

 

Adiabatic \Ad`i*a*bat"ic\, a. [Gr. ? not passable; 'a priv. + ? through + ? to go.]

(Physics) Not giving out or receiving heat. -- Ad`i*a*bat`ic*al*ly, adv.

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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

 

Geodetic \Ge`o*det"ic\, Geodetical \Ge`o*det"ic*al\, a. Of or pertaining to geodesy; obtained or determined by the operations of geodesy; engaged in geodesy; geodesic; as, geodetic surveying; geodetic observers.

Geodetic line or curve, the shortest line that can be drawn between two points on the elipsoidal surface of the earth; a curve drawn on any given surface so that the osculating plane of the curve at every point shall contain the normal to the surface; the minimum line that can be drawn on any surface between any two points.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

 

Curve \Curve\ (k[^u]rv), a. [L. curvus bent, curved. See Cirb.]

Bent without angles; crooked; curved; as, a curve line; a curve surface.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

 

Curve \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.

2. (Geom.) A line described according to some low, and having no finite portion of it a straight line.

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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

 

Curve \Curve\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Curved (k?rvd); 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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

 

Curve \Curve\, v. i. To bend or turn gradually from a given direction; as, the road curves to the right.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

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