curve

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A smooth bend in a line, road, or surface, without sharp angles.

   You should slow down when you approach a curve in the road.

2. 2
   verb

   To bend in a smooth, rounded shape.

   The road curves to the left after the bridge.

Attested since the 1690s, from Latin curvus (“bent, curved”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to bend, curve, turn”) + *-wós. Doublet of curb, shrink, carcer, and cancer.

Topics