1. спец. кривая initial curve —- начальная кривая 2. изгиб, поворот; излучина curve in the road —- поворот дороги 3. вираж final curve —- финишный вираж curve entering —- вход в вираж curve outlet —- выход из виража 4. кривая demand curve —- кривая спроса curve of mortality —- кривая смертности 5. график, диаграмма 6. кривизна; изогнутость curve of the skate —- изогнутость лезвия конька 7. лекало 8. круглые скобки 9. ам. финт (в бейсболе) 10. ам. хитрость, уловка 11. ам. финт; коварный прием the jurnalist threw the candidate a curve by asking him an unexpected question —- журналист загнал кандидата в угол, задав ему неожиданный вопрос 12. гнуть, сгибать, изгибать to curve the back —- гнуть спину 13. гнуться, сгибаться, изгибаться the road curved to the right —- дорога резко повернула вправо the river curves round the town —- река огибает город ...
n. & v. --n. 1 a line or surface having along its length a regular deviation from being straight or flat, as exemplified by the surface of a sphere or lens. 2 a curved form or thing. 3 a curved line on a graph. 4 Baseball a ball caused to deviate by the pitcher's spin. --v.tr. & intr. bend or shape so as to form a curve. Derivatives curved adj. Etymology: orig. as adj. (in curve line) f. L curvus bent: (v.) f. L curvare ...
Толковый словарь английского языка Oxford English Reference
I. adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Latin curvus; akin to Greek kyrtos convex, Middle Irish cruinn round Date: 15th century archaic bent or formed into a ~ II. verb (~d; curving) Etymology: Latin curvare, from curvus Date: 1594 intransitive verb to have or take a turn, change, or deviation from a straight line or plane surface without sharp breaks or angularity transitive verb 1. to cause to ~ 2. to throw a ~ball to (a batter) 3. to grade (as an examination) on a ~ III. noun Date: 1666 1. a. a line especially when ~d: as (1) the path of a moving point (2) a line defined by an equation so that the coordinates of its points are functions of a single independent variable or parameter b. the graph of a variable 2. something ~d: as a. a curving line of the human body b. plural parenthesis 3. a. ~ball b. trick, deception 4. a distribution indicating the relative performance of individuals measured against each other that is used especially in assigning good, medium, or poor grades to usually predetermined proportions of students rather than in assigning grades based on predetermined standards of achievement 5. trend a growth ~ in advertising revenues; especially a prevalent trend or rate of progress — often used in the phrases ahead of the ~ and behind the ~ companies that are behind the ~ in adopting new technologies • curvy adjective ...
(curves, curving, curved) 1. A curve is a smooth, gradually bending line, for example part of the edge of a circle. ...the curve of his lips. ...a curve in the road. N-COUNT: usu with supp 2. If something curves, or if someone or something curves it, it has the shape of a curve. Her spine curved... The track curved away below him. ...a knife with a slightly curving blade... A small, unobtrusive smile curved the cook’s thin lips. VERB: V, V adv/prep, V-ing, V n 3. If something curves, it moves in a curve, for example through the air. The ball curved strangely in the air. VERB: V 4. You can refer to a change in something as a particular curve, especially when it is represented on a graph. Each firm will face a downward-sloping demand curve... N-COUNT: usu with supp see also learning curve 5. If someone throws you a curve or if they throw you a curve ball, they surprise you by doing something you do not expect. (mainly AM) At the last minute, I threw them a curve ball by saying, ‘We’re going to bring spouses’. PHRASE: V inflects ...
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary
~1 n 1 a line which gradually bends like part of a circle (a curve on a graph | the curve of her hips) 2 a rounded bend in a road, river etc (The car took the curve much too quickly.) 3 curve ball a throw in baseball in which the ball spins so that it curves suddenly and is difficult to hit 4 AmE throw sb a curve to surprise someone with a question or problem that is difficult to deal with (They threw us a curve and asked us about Longfellow when we were ready for a question on Thoreau.) ~2 v to bend or move in the shape of a curve, or to make something do this (The track curved into the woods.) ...