Curve

curve
    n 1: the trace of a point whose direction of motion changes
         [syn: {curve}, {curved shape}] [ant: {straight line}]
    2: a line on a graph representing data
    3: a pitch of a baseball that is thrown with spin so that its
       path curves as it approaches the batter [syn: {curve}, {curve
       ball}, {breaking ball}, {bender}]
    4: the property possessed by the curving of a line or surface
       [syn: {curvature}, {curve}]
    5: curved segment (of a road or river or railroad track etc.)
       [syn: {bend}, {curve}]
    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}, {curve}, {trend}, {veer},
         {slue}, {slew}, {cut}]
    2: extend in curves and turns; "The road winds around the lake";
       "the path twisted through the forest" [syn: {wind}, {twist},
       {curve}]
    3: form an arch or curve; "her back arches"; "her hips curve
       nicely" [syn: {arch}, {curve}, {arc}]
    4: bend or cause to bend; "He crooked his index finger"; "the
       road curved sharply" [syn: {crook}, {curve}]
    5: form a curl, curve, or kink; "the cigar smoke curled up at
       the ceiling" [syn: {curl}, {curve}, {kink}]
    

Adiabatic \Ad`i*a*bat"ic\, a. [Gr. 'adia`batos not passable; 'a
   priv. + dia` through + bai`nein to go.] (Physics)
   Not giving out or receiving heat. -- {Ad`i*a*bat`ic*al*ly},
   adv.
   [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

   Note: The adiabatic expansion of carbon dioxide from a
         compressed container causes the temperature of the gas
         to decrease rapidly below its freezing point, resulting
         in the familiar carbon dioxide "snow" emitted by carbon
         dioxide fire extinguishers.
         [PJC.]

   {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.
      [1913 Webster]
    

Curve \Curve\ (k[^u]rv), a. [L. curvus bent, curved. See
   {Cirb}.]
   Bent without angles; crooked; curved; as, a curve line; a
   curve surface.
   [1913 Webster]
    

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.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. (Geom.) A line described according to some low, and having
      no finite portion of it a straight line.
      [1913 Webster]

   {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}.
      [1913 Webster]
    

Curve \Curve\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Curved} (k[^u]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.
   [1913 Webster]
    

Curve \Curve\, v. i.
   To bend or turn gradually from a given direction; as, the
   road curves to the right.
   [1913 Webster]
    

198 Moby Thesaurus words for "curve":
      aberrancy, aberration, arc, arch, artful dodge, artifice,
      bag of tricks, bear off, bend, bend back, bias, blind, bluff,
      bosey, bow, bowl, branch off, branching off, cast, catacaustic,
      catch, catenary, caustic, change of pace, change the bearing,
      change-up, chicanery, chouse, chuck, chunk, circle, circuit,
      circuitousness, circumference, coil, compass, conchoid, corner,
      crook, curl, curvation, curvature, curve-ball, declination,
      decurve, deflect, depart from, departure, design, detour, deviance,
      deviancy, deviate, deviation, device, deviousness, diacaustic,
      diffract, diffuse, digress, digression, dirty deal, dirty trick,
      discursion, disperse, distort, divagate, divagation, divaricate,
      divarication, diverge, divergence, diversion, divert, dodge,
      dogleg, dome, double, downcurve, drift, drifting, ellipse, embow,
      errantry, excursion, excursus, exorbitation, fast deal, fastball,
      feint, festoon, fetch, ficelle, flex, fling, flip, forward pass,
      gambit, gimmick, googly, hairpin, heave, heel, hocus-pocus, hook,
      hump, hunch, hurl, hyperbola, incurvate, incurvation, incurvature,
      incurve, indirection, inflect, inflection, joker, juggle,
      knuckleball, lateral, lateral pass, lituus, lob, loop, obliquity,
      outcurve, parabola, pass, peg, pererration, pitch, ploy, pull, put,
      rambling, recurve, reflect, reflex, refract, retroflex, rondure,
      round, ruse, sag, scatter, scheme, screwball, scurvy trick, serve,
      service, sheer, shift, shifting, shifting course, shifting path,
      shot-put, shy, sinker, sinus, skew, slant, sleight,
      sleight of hand, sleight-of-hand trick, slider, sling, spiral,
      spitball, spitter, stratagem, straying, subterfuge, swag, sweep,
      swerve, swerving, swinging, tack, throw, toss, tracery, trend,
      trick, turn, turn aside, turning, twist, upcurve, variation, vary,
      vault, veer, wandering, warp, wile, wind, yaw, zigzag