Flexure \Flex"ure\ (?; 135), n. [L. flexura.]

1. The act of flexing or bending; a turning or curving; flexion; hence, obsequious bowing or bending.

Will it give place to flexure and low bending? --Shak.

2. A turn; a bend; a fold; a curve.

Varying with the flexures of the valley through which it meandered. --British Quart. Rev.

3. (Zo["o]l.) The last joint, or bend, of the wing of a bird.

4. (Astron.) The small distortion of an astronomical instrument caused by the weight of its parts; the amount to be added or substracted from the observed readings of the instrument to correct them for this distortion.

The flexure of a curve (Math.), the bending of a curve towards or from a straight line.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)