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) 2.0 [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 (of a road or river or railroad track etc.)
[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 or curve; "her back arches"; "her hips curve
nicely" [syn: {arch}, {arc}]
4: bend or cause to bend; "He crooked his index finger"; "the
road curved sharply" [syn: {crook}]
5: form a curl, curve, or kink; "the cigar smoke curled up at
the ceiling" [syn: {curl}, {kink}]