Webster's English Dictionary

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curve

1. curve \'k*rv\ aj [L curvus curved] archaic  : CURVED 
2. curve vb [L curvare, fr. curvus] : to have or take a turn, change, or 
   deviation from a straight line witho ut sharp breaks or angularity : to 
   cause to curve : BEND ause to swerve from a straight line. CURVE implies 
   following or producing a line suggesting the arc of a circle or ellipse; 
   BEND suggests a yielding to force and usu. implies a distortion from normal 
   or desirable straightness; TURN implies change of direction essentially by 
   rotation and not usu. as a result of force; TWIST implies the influence of 
   irresistible force having a spiral effect throughout the object or course 
   involved SYN syn CURVE, BEND, TURN, TWIST mean to swerve or c 
3. curve n 1: a curving line or surface : BEND  2: something curved : as  
   2a: a curving line of the human body  pl  2b: PARENTHESES  3a: a ball 
   thrown so that it swerves from its normal course  3b: TRICK, DECEPTION  4a: 
   a line representing graphically a variable affected by conditions  4b: a 
   graphic indication of development or progress  5a: a line that may be 
   precisely defined by an equation in such a way that  the coordinates of its 
   points are functions of a single independent variable or parameter 5b1: the 
   intersection of two geometrical surfaces  5b2: the path of a moving point