recurven.
/ˈriːkəːv/, U.S. /ˈriˌkərv/ 1. Something which recurves; a reverse or backward curve.
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1845 S. Judd Margaret i. xvii. 172 Some of the sleds passed into the road beyond, some came to the top and halted, some with a graceful recurve turned off aslant.
1891 New Eng. Mag. Mar. 70/2 The curves and recurves of its long leaves give an immense number of beautiful lines.
1922 Jrnl. Hellenic Stud. 42 78 Here we find once more the two brown lines on the neck, the recurving collar-bone, in which the recurve is of just the same length as in the Naples youth.
1999 J. Raper in Multidimensional Geographic Information Sci. (2000) ix. 225 A detached beach that is tied to the coast at one end and free at the other, with a free end that often terminates in a hook or recurve.
2. Archery. A backward-curving end of the limb of a bow; a bow with this feature.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > archer's weapons > [noun] > bow > end of
nocka1398
horn1611
notch1621
recurve1961
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > archer's weapons > [noun] > bow > types of bow
tax1541
livery bow?a1549
bow of lath1597
yew1605
slug1614
seventy-five1840
self1856
three-wood1875
recurve1961
1961 E. Burke Archery i. 10 (caption) Named parts of the bow..recurve..upper limb..bowsight..lower limb..nock.
1962 G. H. Gillelan Young Sportsman's Guide to Archery ii. 19 The other important bow design is the recurve, so named because its tips have a reverse curl.
1979 Country Life 26 July 287/1 The ‘Bowhunter’ style involves any type of bow, usually of a recurve construction, that is a combination of glass-fibre and wood..to buy a new bow works out as follows: long bow, £20–£50; recurve, £150–£180.
1980 Hunting Ann. 1981 81/3 For targets of opportunity, a recurve or long bow can be handled faster.
1994 Bowhunting World Feb. 39/1 I am always drawn back to traditional archery. I am captivated by the sight of a curvaceous recurve and enamored with the challenge of shooting instinctively.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
recurveadj.
/ˈriːkəːv/, /rᵻˈkəːv/, /ˌriːˈkəːv/, U.S. /ˈriˌkərv/, /rəˈkərv/, /riˈkərv/ = recurved adj. 1; (in later use) esp. designating a bow having tips that curve away from the archer.
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the world > space > shape > curvature > types of curvature > [adjective] > backwards
recurve?a1425
recourbleda1492
recurvate1556
retorted1571
reflected1578
back-turneda1586
reflexed1597
recurved1598
reverteda1616
reflex1633
recurvous1713
retroflected1765
retrorsal1870
?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 145 (MED) Be it cauterized wiþ a cauterie recurue [L. recuruo], i. croked agayne.
1702 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 23 1225 In which it very much resembles Water inclos'd in a recurve Tube.
1820 Ann. Philos. 15 171 This barometer is of the recurve kind.
1957 Amer. Jrnl. Orthodontics 43 751 Clinicians have favored recurve springs, high vertical loops, and long coil springs.
1972 Man 7 319/1 Given two construction techniques and two shapes, we have a possibility of four bows: a straight self bow, a recurve self bow, a straight laminate bow, and a recurve laminate bow.
2004 Forensic Sci. Internat. 142 17/2 The recurve bow is a bow with limbs, which curve away from the archer.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
recurvev.
/ˌriːˈkəːv/, U.S. /rəˈkərv/, /riˈkərv/ 1. † b. transitive (reflexive). Obsolete. rare.
a. transitive. To bend or turn (something) back or backwards. Usually in passive.
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the world > space > shape > curvature > types of curvature > [verb (transitive)] > backwards
reflect?a1425
recurvate1598
recurve1598
1598 A. M. tr. J. Guillemeau Frenche Chirurg. f. 32v/1 The muscles, may lye in ther right situatione, and places, and not be recurved [Fr. retournant, Du. ommeghecromt] this way, or that waye.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 327 From the bottom to the middle they growe straight, but from thence they are a little recurued.
1835 W. Kirby On Power of God in Creation of Animals I. ii. 66 Others, as the Friesland-hen, have the feathers on their body recurved.
1841 Todd's Cycl. Anat. & Physiol. III. 202/1 Most of the glow-worms..recurve their tails upon their backs.
1890 Nature 20 Feb. 367/2 They have muscles by which they may be recurved, so that these points may be directed towards the throat.
1986 B. W. Sparks Geomorphol. (BNC) (ed. 3) 264 The spit appears to have started growing from Aldeburgh..at a slight angle to the coast with the end recurved towards the coast.
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1650 J. Bulwer Anthropometamorphosis 118 Unlesse the Larynx at the instant of deglutition should recurve itself upward.
1866 Dental Rev. Apr. 58 Further on towards the anterior end of the symphysis it [sc. the body of the jaw] again recurved itself a short way forwards.
1889 Jrnl. Royal Microsc. Soc. i. 256 Under prolonged desiccation the leaves of this fern become completely rigid, the lamina recurving itself on the upper surface, and exposing the under surface.
2. intransitive. To bend or turn back or backwards; (Meteorology, of a cyclone, wind, or current) to turn back in a curve and change direction.
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the world > space > shape > curvature > types of curvature > [verb (intransitive)] > backwards
recurve1610
reflect1732
recurvate1788
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > movement in circle or curve > move in a circle or curve [verb (intransitive)] > move in curve > back in previous direction
recurve1610
1610 W. Folkingham Feudigraphia ii. ii. 49 Collaterage Active,..verging,..couruing, recouruing, bordering, confining.
1759 Acta Germanica II. 37 [The sternum of a swan] being hollowed, in the upper part, like an arch, for the reception of the wind-pipe, which, after its admission, within it, recurves upwards.
1795 A. H. Haworth Observ. Genus Mesembryanthemum ii. 165 When old, the leaves expand, or even recurve.
?1828 W. Berry Encycl. Heraldica I. Gloss. Unde, Undée..is applied to charges, the edges of which curve and recurve, like the waves of water.
1850 J. Greenwood Sailor's Sea-bk. 87 In recurving.., whirlwind storms will have a polar direction.
1874 F. G. D. Bedford Sailor's Pocket Bk. iv. 90 A large part recurves to the Eastward, thus flowing into the Indian Ocean.
1933 K. M. Smith Rec. Adv. Study Plant Viruses xiii. 348 Leaves..have a..decided tendency to bend at an angle and recurve.
2005 C. Stross Accelerando vii. 313 A tree diagram begins to grow from the bottom left corner of the wall, recurving and recomplicating as it climbs toward the top right.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2009; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.1845adj.?a1425
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