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curve |
7 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: 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. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: 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. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Curve \Curve\ (k[^u]rv), a. [L. curvus bent, curved. See {Cirb}.] Bent without angles; crooked; curved; as a curve line a curve surface. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: 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}. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: 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 From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Curve \Curve\, v. i. To bend or turn gradually from a given direction; as the road curves to the right From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: curve n 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 [syn: {bend}] v 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 [syn: {arch}, {arc}] 4: bend or cause to bend [syn: {crook}] 5: form a curl, curve, or kink; "the cigar smoke curled up at the ceiling"; "The road curved" [syn: {curl}, {kink}]
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