Curve , v. i. To bend or turn
gradually from a given direction; as, the road curves to the right.
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.
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.
Curve (kûrv), a. [L. curvus bent, curved. See Cirb.]
Bent without angles; crooked; curved; as, a curve line; a curve surface.
Hear it pronounced