curve

UK: /ˈkɜː^rv/ US: /kɝv/ ,(kûrv)

Inflections of 'curve' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

curves

v 3rd person singular

curving

v pres p

curved

v past

curved

v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

curve /kɜrv/   n., v., curved, curv•ing, adj. 
n. [countable]

1. Mathematics, a continuously bending line, without angles:
   a curve in the road.
2. Sport Also called curve′ ball′. a baseball pitch thrown with a spin that causes the ball to turn from a normal straight path.
3. a misleading or deceptive trick:
   That was a mean curve from the professor.
4. Education an academic grading system based on the scale of performance of the group, so that those performing better, regardless of their actual knowledge, receive higher grades:
   to mark on a curve.

v. 

5. to (cause to) bend in a curve;
   take the course of a curve: [no object]
   The road curved sharply to the left.
   [~ + object]
   The bowler curved the ball to the right.

Idioms

6. Idioms throw someone a curve, to take someone by surprise:
   The economy threw all the investors a curve by refusing to regain strength when expected.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

curve  (kûrv), n., v., curved, curv•ing, adj. 
n. 

1. Mathematics a continuously bending line, without angles.
2. the act or extent of curving.
3. any curved outline, form, thing, or part.
4. a curved section of a road, path, hallway, etc.
5. Rail Transport a curved section of track: in the U.S. the curve is often expressed as the central angle, measured in degrees, of a curved section of track subtended by a chord 100 ft. (30 m) long (degree of curve.)
6. Sport Also called curve′ ball′. [Baseball.]
   • a pitch delivered with a spin that causes the ball to veer from a normal straight path, away from the side from which it was thrown.
   • the course of such a pitched ball.
7. a graphic representation of the variations effected in something by the influence of changing conditions; graph.
8. Mathematics a collection of points whose coordinates are continuous functions of a single independent variable.
9. a misleading or deceptive trick;
   cheat;
   deception.
10. Education a grading system based on the scale of performance of a group, so that those performing better, regardless of their actual knowledge of the subject, receive high grades:
    The new English professor marks on a curve.
    Cf. absolute (def. 10).
11. a curved guide used in drafting.
12. Idioms ahead of (or behind ) the curve, at the forefront of (or lagging behind) recent developments, trends, etc.
13. Idioms throw (someone) a curve:
    • to take (someone) by surprise, esp. in a negative way.
    • to mislead or deceive.

v.t. 

14. to bend in a curve;
    cause to take the course of a curve.
15. to grade on a curve.
16. Sport [Baseball.] to pitch a curve to.

v.i. 

17. to bend in a curve;
    take the course of a curve.

adj. 

18. curved.

• Latin curvus crooked, bent, curved
• Middle French)
• (1565–75

curv•ed•ly  (kûr′vid lē), adv.  curv′ed•ness, n. 
curve′less, adj. 

curve, +n. 

1. Idioms ahead of (or behind ) the curve, at the forefront of (or lagging behind) recent developments, trends, etc.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

curve / kɜːv/ noun

1. a continuously bending line that has no straight parts
2. something that curves or is curved, such as a bend in a road or the contour of a woman's body
3. the act or extent of curving; curvature
4. a system of points whose coordinates satisfy a given equation; a locus of points
5. a line representing data, esp statistical data, on a graph
6. ahead of the curve ⇒ ahead of the times; ahead of schedule
7. behind the curve ⇒ behind the times; behind schedule

verb

1. to take or cause to take the shape or path of a curve; bend

Etymology: 15th Century: from Latin curvāre to bend, from curvus crooked

ˈcurvy adjective