curveadj.n.
/kəːv/, U.S. /kərv/ A. adj.
Curved, curving; consisting of or formed from a curve or curves. Now rare.In later use hardly distinguishable from attributive use of the noun.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > curvature > [adjective]
crooked?c1225
roundc1300
ybentc1330
bentc1374
cambera1387
curvate?a1425
curve?a1425
curved?a1425
bowingc1440
crumped1480
bowed1483
bended1495
bowlanda1522
compass?1523
curbed?1541
compassed1551
compassing1576
curvated1598
orbed1598
curving1609
ridgill-backed1611
incurved1623
inflected1646
incurvate1647
curvous1661
incurvated1665
swayed1688
bending1697
circumflex1707
curval1730
sweeping1772
bendy1800
curvatureda1810
curvative1846
hooped1852
swept1903
?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 141v (MED) A bone or..awne þat ar infixed in þe þrote..with curue [?c1425 Paris croked; L. curuis] tenaculez.
?a1560 L. Digges Geom. Pract.: Pantometria (1571) ii. xiii. sig. N iij v Suche playne Superficies as are enuironed with curue lynes.
1665 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 1 107 The Tail is Curve.
1683 W. Charleton Three Anat. Lect. ii. 61 The curve figure of the membrane of the gut, which is longer in the convex part, and shorter in the concave.
1715 G. Cheyne Philos. Princ. Relig. (ed. 2) i. ii. 95 Partly terminated with plain, and partly with curve surfaces.
1755 T. Amory Mem. Ladies 407 On which are fastened curve pieces of wood.
1836 E. Nulty Elem. Geom. Pref. p. v The mensuration of all the elementary plane figures, and plane and curve solids.
1860 Ld. Brougham in Orr's Circle Sci.: Org. Nature (new ed.) I. Introd. Disc. p. xxi The Earth moves round the Sun in the same curve line.
1914 Mod. Painter (Chicago) Sept. 22/2 When the brush is held in proper position all curve or oval strokes and straight lines will come true and uniform in the formation of the different letters.
1994 A. Kapralski Sequential & Parallel Processing Depth Search Machines x. 239 The nonconcave closures..of concave figures where a part of the edge is a curve line and another part is (are) segment(s) of straight lines.
2012 T. Seddon & I. Saltz in A. Haley et al. Typogr. Referenced 335/2 Attempt to set shorter lines at the start and end of a paragraph, with longer lines in the middle, giving each paragraph a curve outer shape.
B. n.
1.
a. A curved form, outline, etc.; a curved thing or portion of a thing; a bend.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > curvature > [noun] > a curve
bightOE
crookingc1380
curvature?a1425
bought1519
compass1545
ply1575
reflexure1578
curve1596
circumflex1601
curb1601
flexion1607
flexure1608
round1608
sinus1615
return1626
inflection1658
curvity1705
sweep1715
tarve1848
1596 R. Agas Preparative to Platting Landes & Tenem. 9 You shall in your passage vpon long stations..readily obserue euery curue, bending, & declination of your hedges, bounders, watercourses, or other tractes whatsoeuer.
1696 W. Whiston New Theory of Earth i. 9 Let a Stone be let loose from the Sling, or any revolving body be disengag'd from the force which retain'd it in its Curve.
a1718 J. Bulkeley Last-day (1719) vi. 213 Emplait with Flow'rs A Girland vernal fair, then on his Neck Bind the gay Curve.
1728 A. Pope Dunciad ii. 153 It rose, and labor'd to a curve at most.
1751 B. Franklin Exper. & Observ. Electr. 84 Take a wire bent in the form of a C, with a stick of wax fixed to the outside of the curve, to hold it by.
1824 J. M. Sherer Scenes & Impressions Egypt & Italy 89 On the bold curve of its beautifully projecting cornice a globe..stretches forth long overshadowing wings.
1856 E. K. Kane Arctic Explor. II. xi. 112 Etah is on the northeastern curve of Hartstene Bay.
1969 M. Schisgal Jimmy Shine i. i. 5 (stage direct.) No more than a platform in the curve of the stairs.
2008 A. Ghosh Sea of Poppies (2009) iv. 70 The cart was trundling around a curve in the road.
b. spec. Used with reference to (the outlines of) a woman's (or occasionally a man's) figure. Usually in plural.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > bodily shape or physique > [noun] > female
curve1849
contour1886
rondeurs1923
statistics1958
1849 C. Brontë Shirley I. vi. 104 Her shape..was girlish, light, and pliant; every curve was neat, every limb proportionate.
1862 Harper's Mag. June 45/1 The full round shape hid half its voluptuous curves in the shade of the dark-green riding-suit.
1891 Boston Sunday Globe 8 Feb. 21/4 Her figure is full of delicious curves and beautifully proportioned.
1904 H. A. Vachell Brothers (1905) xv. 139 ‘You will fill out,’ said Archibald, placidly regarding the curves of his person [in the mirror].
1929 P. G. Wodehouse Mr. Mulliner Speaking i. 9 I can remember the days..when every other girl you met stood about six feet two in her dancing-shoes and had as many curves as a Scenic Railway.
1963 P. van Praagh & P. Brinson Choreogr. Art 174 The emancipated modern woman is athletic, well-groomed and chic with good proportions and fewer curves than in earlier periods.
2007 R. Labonté Country Boys 25 His hirsuteness..did tend to highlight his curves in a flattering way.
2013 Daily Tel. 7 June 29/4 A snugly fitted denim dress that shows off all her curves.
2.
a. Geometry. Any line that is not a straight line, esp. one which smoothly deviates from being straight for some or all of its length.In mathematics curve is often used to denote any line, including straight lines.Frequently with distinguishing word. cubic curve, exponential curve, logarithmic curve, etc.: see first element.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > geometry > curve > [noun]
curve1658
1658 J. Collins Descr. & Uses General Quadrant 6 in Sector on Quadrant To draw the Curve. Draw two lines of Versed Sines, it matters not whether of the same Radius or no, nor how posited.
1696 W. Whiston New Theory of Earth i. 22 All Bodies..which revolve in Curves..are attracted..continually towards that Point or Center.
1706 H. Ditton Inst. Fluxions 221 That Curve to which this Property agrees, must be the Curve of swiftest Descent.
1786 T. Baldwin Airopaidia xiv. 80 Making Gyrations in Circles of different Diameters, at the same Time turning different Ways round its axis: describing Curves, something similar to that of the Moon round the Earth in her Orbit.
1848 J. H. Coffin Elements Conic Sections v. 65 The curvature of a curve is its deviation from a tangent line.
1882 G. M. Minchin Uniplanar Kinematics 38 What curve do the chalk marks make in the rolling body? Evidently..a circle..What curve do the chalk marks make on the fixed plane? Evidently a right line.
1943 Life 8 Nov. 83/2 (caption) An ellipse is a closed curve described by a moving point.
1983 Q. Rev. Biol. 58 412/2 A fractal is a curve that although continuous is not smooth at any point.
2016 H. Torres et al. High School Geom. Unlocked vi. 269 A parabola is a U-shaped curve.
b. A curved surface. rare.
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the world > space > shape > curvature > curved surface > [noun]
curve1728
1728 tr. I. Newton Optical Lect. 173 The Refraction of a Ray by a Curve [L. curva] is the same, as by a Plane touching the Curve [L. curvam] in the Point of Refraction.
1948 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 34 10 The congruence is parabolic and its focal surface is a curve.
3.
a. A curve or graph drawn so as to represent diagrammatically the variation of a quantity with respect to another quantity (esp. time).Frequently with distinguishing word. demand curve, population curve, temperature curve, etc.: see first element.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > graph or diagram > [noun] > graph
curve1818
profile1860
plot1880
graph1886
curve plotting1891
trend line1912
subgraph1931
network1941
digraph1955
multigraph1966
1818 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 108 370 The curve representing the expansive force of steam, I consider to be logarithmic, in which the ratios, as ordinates, continually diminish, without ever vanishing, or coming to an equality. The axis is an asymptote to the curve.
1874 Proc. Royal Soc. 1873–4 22 27 There will be three curves—one expressing the relation between temperature and pressure for gas with liquid, another expressing that for gas with solid, and another expressing that for liquid with solid.
1911 W. E. Dalby in Rep. Brit. Assoc. Advancem. Sci. 1910 695 The curves of mileage, passengers carried, and goods carried increase regularly with the increase of capital.
1958 Times Rev. Industry Apr. 81/2 In the..Community industries the curve of annual steel production increase is flattening out.
2005 Gazette (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) 24 Feb. a4/4 What the curve demonstrates is a roughly linear, inverse correlation between combined corporate tax rates and the percentage of GDP companies pay in tax revenue.
b. figurative. A perceived course of development; a trend. Esp. in ahead of the curve at ahead adv., prep., and adj. Phrases 5, behind the curve at behind adv., prep., and n. Phrases 6. See also power curve n. 1b.learning curve: see learning n. Compounds 2.
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1926 Los Angeles Times 6 June 11/8 The common brick business refuses to follow the curves set up for the construction industry by some of the widely promoted statistical agencies. It is going ahead of the curve.
1936 Financial Times 24 Nov. 6/2 It must be remembered that there is no single trade cycle curve, but Stock Markets, trade, employment and even the various great industries of the country each follow their own particular curve.
1982 J. Campbell Grammatical Man iv. xviii. 223 This swift loss of information from the conscious mind became known as ‘the curve of forgetting’.
2008 eyetopiaplans.com (Internet Archive Wayback Machine 6 Mar. 2008) A group of optometrists in San Antonio created the program in order to keep up with the curve of managed care.
4. A ruler or template used to draw curved lines; = curve ruler n. at Compounds 2.Frequently with distinguishing word, as flexible curve, shipwright's curve, etc. See also French curve n. at French adj. and n. Compounds 1b.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > representation > a plastic or graphic representation > graphic representation > drawing plans or diagrams > [noun] > drawing instruments > for curves
curvograph1817
curvilinead1826
curve1844
French curve1844
integraph1885
1844 Techn. Educator I. 13/1 I. ‘French curves’..are rules cut into an almost endless variety of shapes used in inking curves.
a1877 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. I. 664/1 Curve, a draftsman's instrument having one or a variety of curves of various characters..Some are constructed for specific purposes, such as shipwright's curves, radii-curves, etc.
1927 Pop. Sci. Monthly Dec. 115/1 The accepted method of making the curves is to lay an existing curve on the celluloid sheet, scribe its outlines, tack the sheet to a thin piece of wood and cut it out on a fine band saw.
2002 A. Rae Choosing & Using Hand Tools 68/1 Vinyl flexible curves come in different lengths, and can be flexed to match almost any curve.
5. Chiefly U.S. A round bracket, a parenthesis. Usually in plural.Quot. 1848 shows similar use of parenthetic curve.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > written character > punctuation > [noun] > brackets
parenthesis1582
squadron1618
parathesis1633
brace1656
hooks1680
bracket1750
circumflex1801
round bracket1847
curve1851
angle bracket1890
square bracket1891
paren1905
angled bracket1954
semi-quadratures-
1848 J. Hunter Text-bk. Eng. Gram. iv. ii. 160 Clauses and phrases, introduced parenthetically, but not so abruptly or incidentally as to require the parenthetic curves, are often at the beginning of a sentence, followed by a comma.]
1851 G. Brown Gram. of Eng. Gram. iv. i. 743 The following are the principal points, or marks [of punctuation]; namely, the Comma [,], the Semicolon [;]..and the Curves, or Parenthesis, [( )].
1896 Jrnl. Amer. Oriental Soc. 17 97 A date in my own text, within curves, following a Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, New Latin or English form in italics, is the date of the earliest quotation for that form.
1938 Indian Hist. Q. 14 168 The same applies also to the original text, although well-known authors are mentioned within curves.
1950 Notes 7 229 The title of the picture is given first..followed in curves by the name of the company producing the picture and a few of the chief performers.
2004 C. H. Davis in W. B. Rayward & M. E. Bowden Hist. & Heritage Sci. & Technol. Information Syst. 185/1 Numeric prefixes determined alphabetical order only when within curves or brackets.
6. Baseball. A delivery in which the pitcher causes the ball to deviate from a straight path by imparting spin; = curveball n. 1. In early use also: the trajectory of a ball pitched in this way.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > baseball > [noun] > pitching > movement of ball
curve1874
outcurve1881
incurve1886
outshoot1887
inshoot1892
pretzel bender1908
fade-away1909
1874 N.Y. Herald 7 July 5/4 The Mutuals went first to bat and were neatly retired before they could score... The Yale boys now tried their hands against Matthews' curves.
1875 Boston Daily Advertiser 18 May The Hartfords at the bat are stronger against either Spalding or Manning than the Bostons can be against that fearful curve of the ‘boy pitcher’ [sc. Cummings].
1889 Cent. Dict. Curve,..the course of a ball so pitched that it does not pass in a straight line from the pitcher to the catcher, but makes a deflection in the air other than the ordinary one caused by the force of gravity.
1900 G. Patten Rockspur Nine xxvii. 233 He dazed Walt by speed and curves, and the high hopes of the regulars were dashed to the ground when the hitter quickly struck out.
1938 New Yorker 19 Feb. 19 I have the best lawyers in the country helping me watch the curves as they come over the plate.
1960 H. Seymour Baseball xxiii. 278 Fooling him with a curve on the outside.
2012 Orange County (Calif.) Reg. (Nexis) 31 July His left arm hurls a repertoire of low-90s fastballs and deceptive cutters, sliders and curves.
Phrases
P1.
a.
curve of probability n. Statistics (now rare) a curve representing a normal distribution; (also more generally) the curve of any probability density function.
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1829 S. D. Poisson in Q. Jrnl. of Sci., Lit., & Arts July 92 In the general case where the curve of probability varies from one observation to another, it may also happen that the areas of all the curves may not have their centres of gravity on the same ordinate.
1913 Jrnl. Educ. (Univ. of Boston School of Educ.) 25 Dec. 651/1 If biological laws apply to education the curve of probability in large bodies of pupils ought to be significant.
1952 Bios 23 266 The curve obtained by connecting the points is bell-shaped, in the form of the curve of probability.
2011 Condor 113 533/2 (caption) Adjusted curve of probability of hatching of Imperial Cormorant eggs in relation to their mass.
b.
curve of pursuit n. the figure described by a point whose motion is at each instant directed towards another point which is also moving; the figure described by a number of such points.A common problem in which such curves arise, especially in early sources, is that of determining the path taken by a ship that is pursuing another ship.
ΚΠ
1752 J. Turner Math. Exercises iv. 121 The Curve described by the Man of War on the Surface of the Water..will be the known, or common Curve of Pursuit.
1871 P. G. Tait & W. J. Steele Dynamics of Particle (ed. 3) i. §32 Illustrations..are to be found in what are called Curves of Pursuit. These questions arose from the consideration of the path taken by a dog who in following his master always directs his course towards him.
1928 Amer. Math. Monthly 35 422 This suggests a graphic method of mapping the family of curves of pursuit.
2007 P. J. Nahin Chases & Escapes ii. 44 Even Hathaway could not find an analytical expression for the curve of pursuit.
c.
(a) † curve of cosines n. Geometry Obsolete rare a curve whose ordinates are the cosines of their corresponding abscissae; the graph of the function cosin x.
ΚΠ
1821 J. Leslie Geom. Anal. iii. xii. 408 The Curve of Cosines is only a slight modification of the Curve of Sines.
1906 Jrnl. Hygiene 6 219 To weld or combine the overlapping series by pairs of factors derived from the ‘curve of cosines’ so that one series shall gradually pass into the other.
(b)
curve of sines n. Geometry (now rare) a curve whose ordinates are the sines of their corresponding abscissae; the graph of the function sin x; a sinusoid.
ΚΠ
1821 J. Leslie Geom. Anal. iii. xii. 406 Perpendiculars, erected equal to the corresponding sines, will exhibit a line called the Curve of Sines.
1900 Amer. Jrnl. Psychol. 12 135 I would not call a Gothic arch circular though it be composed of arcs of circles; nor would I call the curve of cosines the curve of sines, though it be merely the same curve in a different phase.
1950 Math. Gaz. 34 261 Some better-known curves, notably the curve of sines and the logarithmic curve, will provide examples even more instructive than the ‘Folium’.
(c)
curve of tangents n. Geometry rare †(a) a curve whose ordinates are the tangents of their corresponding abscissae; the graph of the function tan x (obsolete); (b) (in projective geometry) a curve derived from another in such a way that each point corresponds to a tangent line of the original curve in a particular way; the dual (dual adj. and n. Additions) of a curve.
ΚΠ
1821 J. Leslie Geom. Anal. iii. xiii. 409 Their vertices will be in what is thence called the Curve of Tangents.
1986 Pacific Jrnl. Math. 124 321 C* ⊂ P2* will denote the dual curve of tangents to C.
2002 A. M. Bonifant & M. Dabija in C. J. Earle et al. Complex Manifolds & Hyberbolic Geom. 18 The dual curve.., defined as the curve of tangents to C, is a sextic.
P2. Originally U.S. to grade (also mark) (a test, exam, etc.) on a curve: to assign grades or examination scores to (a test, exam, etc.) so that they fit a particular probability distribution, typically in order to eliminate the effect of such factors as variation in difficulty between exams set on different occasions. Also occasionally intransitive.A Gaussian distribution is typically used.Quot. 1935 shows earlier use of grading n. in the same context. Quot. 1923 apparently refers to statistical assessment of students' learning.
ΚΠ
1923 U. Sinclair Goose-step lxii. 304 Mr. Mencken insists that a student got his doctorate degree for marking on a curve the vocabulary of Latin students after six months' training.
1935 Atlantic Monthly Dec. 743/2 Woven through this tangled warp of terms we find the mysterious woof of objective standardized tests, grading on a curve, a sinister, if not diabolical, sigma accompanied by knowledges and skills,..by modes, averages, means, standard deviations.]
1938 Amer. Math. Monthly Jan. 32 He should tell the class what topics the course covers, that he does not grade on a curve, how the final grade is made out.
1939 H. L. Marcoux College Guide Business Eng. i. 29 Susan..knew that everyone in the course could not get high marks for reports graded on a curve.
1963 D. T. Stanley Professional Personnel City N.Y. vi. 145 He saw the examination and thought it was a good test, but objected to the tendency to mark on a curve in order to pass enough people.
2008 Financial Times 27 Oct. (Business Education section) 16/1 If everyone did not complete the readings for tomorrow's class, we would all be fine, since the course is graded on a curve.
P3. North American colloquial. to throw a curve and variants: to act in a surprising or unexpected manner for the purpose of disconcerting. Usually with indirect object or at.In origin a metaphorical use of sense B. 6.
ΚΠ
1932 Jrnl. Electr. Workers & Operators Apr. 206/2 We have to watch for somebody to throw us a curve at anytime.
1956 Washington Post 15 July a1/5 The Senate Appropriations Committee threw a curve yesterday.
1975 J. Wambaugh Choirboys xi. 226 Course she might throw you a curve... She might say, ‘I think you look like a cop.’
2007 Gazette (Montreal) (Nexis) 12 Dec. (Final ed.) a1 The ADQ pitched a curve at the government when debate began.
P4. to flatten the curve (Medicine, spec. Epidemiology) : to take measures designed to reduce the rate at which infection spreads during an epidemic, with the aim of lowering the peak daily number of new cases and extending the period over which new cases occur.
ΚΠ
2006 Jrnl. Royal. Soc. Interface (Electronic ed.) (2007) 4 577/1 A lower transmission rate changes the PSD [= power spectral densities] by decreasing the overall amplitude of the oscillations, shifting the peak to lower frequencies and flattening the curve.]
2010 Jrnl. Primary Health Care 2 324/1 (table) Minimise transmission—‘flatten the curve’.
2020 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) (Nexis) 31 Mar. 4 Under new and harsher restrictions brought in to ‘flatten the curve’ of infection, people who live alone will be the only people able to invite over one friend... ‘If we don't do this and we don't flatten the curve, our hospital staff are going to be stretched to the limit,’ Ms Palaszczuk said.
Compounds
C1. Baseball. attributive in sense B. 6, as curve pitcher, curve pitching, etc.
ΚΠ
1876 St. Louis (Missouri) Globe-Democrat 19 May 8/4 The Reds punched Furlong, the celebrated curve pitcher, so badly that Garneau had to take his place.
1879 De Witt's Baseball Guide 24 The great difficulty in curve pitching is to obtain the required command of the ball.
1881 Harvard Daily Echo 28 Nov. Their pitching was up to the highest standard of the curve delivery.
1912 Amer. Mag. July 299/2 It looked as if the Pirates did not have curve pitchers enough, or of sufficient quality, to prevent Detroit from slugging its way to victory.
1974 Daily Independent (Corona, Calif.) 9 Apr. 6/7 Thomas had just put Wilkerson in center, so he decided to bring the junior curve specialist back to pitch.
C2.
curve-billed adj. [after scientific Latin curvirostra, curvirostris (1758 and 1766 respectively as specific names)] (in the names of birds) having a curved bill or beak.
ΚΠ
1788 J. F. Gmelin Linnaeus' Syst. Naturæ (ed. 13) I. ii. 538 Curve-billed Duck.
1881 Amer. Naturalist 15 217 The curve-billed thrush (H[arporhynchus] curvirostris).
2010 Atlantic Monthly Nov. 38/3 Gila woodpeckers, curve-billed thrashers, and red-naped sapsackers swoop over a clear blue creek that threads through the arid landscape.
curve fitting n. the process of determining a curve (or its equation) that, subject to certain conditions, best approximates the distribution of points on a graph or describes most accurately the relation between the variables they represent.Curve fitting typically seeks to determine a curve which is such that the distances of the points of the graph from the curve are minimized.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > graph or diagram > [noun] > graph > other
hockey stick1843
curve fitting1895
demand curve1936
zero crossing1941
matching1955
length1959
error bar1968
1895 K. Pearson in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) A. 186 385 In good cases of normal curve fitting, the generalised curves are always sensibly better.
1950 A. McF. Mood Introd. Theory Statistics xiii. 311 The primary reason that the method of least squares is commonly used for curve fitting is merely that it leads to a simple linear system of equations for determining the coefficients.
2008 R. M. Zbiek & K. Hollebrands in M. K. Heid & G. W. Blume Res. on Technol. & Teaching & Learning Math. I. vii. 294 At this level, the teacher may establish patterns for distributing and collecting the calculators and methods for performing mathematical tasks such as graphing or curve fitting.
curve-lined adj. composed of curved lines; curvilinear.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > curvature > [adjective] > curved line
curvilineal1656
curve-lined1657
curvilinear1668
curvilineary1679
curvilineous1684
curvital1892
1657 W. Charleton Immortality Human Soul i. 45 A Method, whereby the Parabola, Circle, Ellipsis, and Hyperbola really are (and most, if not all other regular Curve-lined Figures, may be) squared.
1715 W. Whiston Astron. Lect. xviii. 219 Secondary Planets..go about their Primaries in a Curve-lin'd Orbit.
1852 H. Grant Elements Pract. Geom. 19 Various curve-lined figures can be made on a ball or any other curved surface.
1915 F. A. Parsons Interior Decoration i. ii. 70 It was necessary to eliminate the atrocities in curve-lined furniture, which factories were turning out.
2007 K. A. Lutaenko et al. in D. G. Anderson et al. Climate Change & Cultural Dynamics x. 382 The Amur region's famous curve-lined ornamental art, which has survived in various crafts.
curve plotting n. the drawing or marking out of a curve representing a set of data or a mathematical function; cf. plot v.1 4a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > graph or diagram > [noun] > graph
curve1818
profile1860
plot1880
graph1886
curve plotting1891
trend line1912
subgraph1931
network1941
digraph1955
multigraph1966
1891 Electrician 8 May 13/1 We do not intend to enter on this occasion on the advantages of curve plotting, but merely wish to point out that an investigation is not complete when a curve has been obtained.
1951 J. Procopi in R. E. Kirk & D. F. Othmer Encycl. Chem. Technol. VII. 909 Manual chores in the research laboratory, such as data logging and tedious curve plotting.
2012 J. Richter-Gebert & U. H. Kortenkamp in Cinderella.2 Man. i. 13 In particular, it is possible to perform curve plotting of physical parameters directly or to draw the flux of a force field.
curve ruler n. a ruler or template designed to be used to draw curved lines; spec. (a) one with a curved outline, typically used as one a set of such rulers; (b) one consisting of a rod, tube, or strip of flexible material which can be bent to form a variety of curves.
ΚΠ
1847 T. Baker in A. Nesbit Compl. Treat. Pract. Land-surveying (ed. 9) x. 369 If the scale of plan, to which this curve-ruler is applied, be 5 chains to an inch, it will represent a curve or circular arc of 16 x 5 = 80 chains = 1 mile radius.
1929 Pop. Sci. Monthly Sept. 122/2 (caption) A strip of lead, a spiral spring, and a length of rubber tubing form this flexible curve ruler.
1962 Financial Times 4 Apr. 13/4 Claimed to be the first really satisfactory curve ruler to be produced to date, a flexible white plastic ruler.
2009 C. Patch Design-It-Yourself Clothes i. 28/2 This is a type of ruler used for drawing curved lines, part of a whole category of curve rulers, which includes French curves as well.
curve-veined adj. Botany (now rare) (of a leaf) having approximately parallel veins of roughly equal width throughout most of its length, diverging at the midrib and converging at both the base and tip; = parallel-veined adj. at parallel n., adj., and adv. Compounds 2.
ΚΠ
1836 A. Gray Elements Bot. ii. 82 There are also two kinds of parallel-veined leaves, viz.: the curve-veined and the straight-veined form.
1861 R. Bentley Man. Bot. i. iii. 153 Curve-veined.—In such leaves we have a prominent midrib.
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. I. 364 Curvinerved, Curve-veined, the same as Convergentinervose.
a1933 J. W. Moll Phytogr. as Fine Art (1934) ii. 430 Curve-veined blade.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2017; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
curvev.
/kəːv/, U.S. /kərv/ 1. intransitive. To have or assume a curved form; to lie or be placed so as to form a curve.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > curvature > be or become curved or bent [verb (intransitive)]
beyc888
bowOE
fold13..
crumpc1325
windc1374
courbe1377
curb1377
plyc1395
bend1398
ploy?1473
bowl1513
bought1521
tirve1567
crookle1577
crook1579
compass1588
round1613
incurvate1647
circumflex1661
arcuate1678
to round off1678
sweep1725
curve1748
curvaturea1811
1609 P. Holland tr. Ammianus Marcellinus Rom. Hist. xii. vi. 127 By which shores curving and crooking into long coves or creekes [L. per quae litora in sinus oblongos curvatus], the rivers Sangarius and Psylis, Bizes also and Rhebas, poure themselves into the seas.
1666 S. Morgan Armilogia 181 A Celestial Womb, with a Serpent curving about a Globe.
1748 S. Richardson Clarissa IV. xxvii. 151 He [sc. Boreas] puffed away most vehemently; and often made the poor fellow curve and stagger.
1795 A. Radcliffe Journey 401 The ridge of precipices, that swept from Wallow-crag southward..was despoiled of its forest; but that, which curved northward, was dark with dwarf-wood to the water's brim.
1855 Ld. Tennyson Brook in Maud & Other Poems 111 And out again I curve and flow To join the brimming river.
1875 C. Darwin Insectivorous Plants ii. 37 The tentacles curve inwards.
1942 Scotsman 30 July 7/3 The path curved down to the white thatched cottage between sloping flower-beds.
1979 F. Iyayi Violence (1987) ix. 112 His spine arched and curved from the effort of coughing.
2012 C. Jackson If I Lie xxvi. 224 I love him, I think, my lips curving into a small smile at the certainty.
2. transitive. To bend or shape (something) so as to form a curve; to cause to take a curved form.
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the world > space > shape > curvature > curve or bend [verb (transitive)]
beyc888
bowa1300
incrooka1340
inbowa1382
crook1382
plya1393
inflectc1425
courbe1430
wryc1450
cralla1475
crumbc1490
bought1521
compass1542
incurvate1578
ploy1578
incurve1610
curve1615
circumflex1649
wheel1656
curb1662
crumpa1821
curvaturec1933
1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 788 If we obserue the motions of our hands well, when we would moue the third ioynt, the two former are curued whether we wil or no.
1646 N. Lockyer Eng. faithfully watcht With 303 When shee [sc. Magnanimitie] breaths and collects spirits, she doth not curve her brow, frowne and fret, and the like, but smiles.
1669 W. Holder Elem. Speech 86 The Tong..is drawn back and Curved.
1791 W. Cowper tr. Homer Iliad in Iliad & Odyssey I. iv. 145 When the horn was curved to a wide arch.
1855 Ld. Tennyson Maud xiii. ii, in Maud & Other Poems 45 Curving a contumelious lip.
1888 Engineer 9 Nov. 390/1 The centripetal force..acts on the whirled body and curves its path.
1920 New Orleans Med. & Surg. Jrnl. 72 491 If wooden applicators be wet for a few minutes, it becomes possible to curve them at one end.
1972 N.Y. Times 11 June 16 d/5 The dancers curved their arms overhead.
2002 L. Ermelino Sisters Mallone (2003) xxx. 256 He looked around at the line of men hunched under the stalks of green bananas, the weight curving their backs.
3. intransitive. To alter one’s direction of travel so as to form a curved path; to turn or bend in a curve.
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1849 H. Grote Let. 1 Sept. in Lewin Lett. (1909) II. v. 65 Devil a line or sign of life from you since you curved off in our ‘Bess’ on your way to Southampton.
1868 Scotsman 10 Aug. 2/6 The train curved in through this narrow entrance.
1885 Wide Awake Aug. 152/1 We stopped short and swerved to the left..; and as he curved round, almost losing his legs, we darted on.
1916 R. S. Liddell On Russ. Front xi. 118 The way he made that Taube turn and curve and swerve and dip and rise again..was really grand.
1995 N. Whittaker Platform Souls (1996) iii. 33 As we curved away on the line to North Wales I looked at my notebook.
4. transitive. Baseball. To cause (a ball) to deviate from a straight trajectory by imparting spin when throwing or pitching it. Also intransitive. Cf. curve n. 6, curveball n. 1.Quot. 1856 shows intransitive use with the ball (to which spin has been imparted) as subject.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > baseball > play baseball [verb (transitive)] > actions of pitcher
pitch1848
curve1877
to put over1891
scatter1892
save1899
to put across1903
walk1905
fan1909
plunk1909
southpaw1911
whiff1914
sidearm1921
sidearm1922
outpitch1928
blow1938
hang1967
wild pitch1970
1856 Spirit of Times 6 Dec. 229/1 It is questionable..whether his style of pitching is most successful, many believing a slow ball curving near the bat, to be the most effective.]
1877 Eau Claire (Wisconsin) News 21 July This gentleman discussed scientifically the principles upon which a pitcher of a base ball club ‘curves’ the ball in delivering it.
1902 Boston Daily Globe 4 Sept. 10/8 I am now able to put in a pretty swift ball and can curve and drop as well as my brother.
1960 H. Seymour Baseball xvi. 177 The pitcher..dominated the game merely because he could curve a ball.
2002 Daily News (N.Y.) (Nexis) 11 May (Sports section) 44 The Rockies are trying to give their pitchers a chance, giving them a ball they can curve and sink.
5. transitive. U.S. To assign (grades or examination scores) so as to fit a particular probability distribution; to grade (a test, course, etc.) on a curve. Cf. to grade (also mark) (a test, exam, etc.) on a curve at curve adj. and n. Phrases 2. A Gaussian distribution is typically used.
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1964 J. B. Murray Educ. Psychol. xv. 299 Curving tests means applying the normal curve distribution..to test scores.
1974 Change 6 35/2 The professor agreed to curve the grades.
1996 Tax Adviser (Electronic ed.) June 373 The Tax Court curved the scores so that a little over 10% of applicants normally passed.
2013 W. Mendenhall et al. Introd. Probability & Statistics (ed. 14) vi. 241 If you had a score of 92 on the exam and you had the choice of curving the grades or using the absolute standard of 90–100 for an A, 80–89 for a B,..and so on, what would be your choice?
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2017; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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