From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcurvecurve1 /kɜːv $ kɜːrv/ ●●○ S3 W3 noun [countable] 1 BENDa line that gradually bends like part of a circlecurve of the curve of her hips a sweeping curve of railroad track2 a line on a graph that gradually bends and represents a change in the amount or level of something The curve illustrates costs per capita.demand/supply curve The market demand curve has increased.3 BENDa bend in a road, river etc The car took the curve much too quickly.4 DSin baseball, a ball that spins and moves in a curve when it is thrown, so that it is difficult to hit5 → throw somebody a curve6 → ahead of/behind the curve → learning curveCOLLOCATIONSadjectivesa smooth curveHe drew a line on the paper in a smooth curve.a gentle curve (=one that turns gradually in another direction)the river's gentle curvesa sharp/tight curve (=one that turns suddenly in another direction)There's a tight curve in the road up ahead.an upward/downward curveShe stood watching the upward curve of the bird's flight.a sweeping curve (=wide and gentle)the sweeping curve of the baya graceful curveHer arm arched over her head in a graceful curve.
Examples from the Corpus
curve• Morgan was killed when he lost control of his car in a curve.• Will was killed when he lost control of his car in a curve.• This time around, the computerisation curve has flattened out, so the electronics industry has been hit as hard as any.• From the balcony, you could see the long curve of the shoreline.• He expects to profit from the high strike mostly when he throws his overhand curve which breaks late into the strike zone.• Customers seem to like the car's curves and angles.• He lost control of the car on a sharp curve.• These subtle curves encourage air to flow under the board which gives extra lift and better acceleration.• This means that as firms leave an industry. the supply curve will shift to the left.• Above them were fields of blazing stars and on some of the curves Marge caught a glimpse of moonlight on rolling surf.• I rounded the curve looking for a place to pull over.• Ileal motility was measured by integrating the area under the pressure-time curve, during 1 minute periods, using computer software.• A few follow gracefully some yards behind, dancing in ever-widening curves, waltzing in circles at the curbs.curve of• the curve of the sword bladedemand/supply curve• In the extreme case where the aggregate supply curve is vertical, the increased money supply will simply lead to higher prices.• The reader should again work out these more complex cases in terms of supply and demand curves to verify all these results.• A change in supply is involved when the entire supply curve shifts.• Thus sign; the membership demand curve is negatively sloped for and positively sloped for, as shown in Fig. 1.• Thus, the private demand curve of an individual is not a simple affair.• With the upward-sloping supply curve, higher demand leads to higher interest rates and higher supply.• This means that as firms leave an industry. the supply curve will shift to the left.• If any of these nonprice determinants of supply do in fact change, the location of the supply curve will be altered.curvecurve2 ●●○ verb [intransitive, transitive] BENDto bend or move in the shape of a curve, or to make something do this The track curved round the side of the hill. A smile curved her lips.→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
curve• Hurricane Gustav curved away from the Caribbean Islands and headed toward open ocean.• The dusty white road curved away towards the mountains.• a sandy beach curving gently around the bay• A slight smile curved her mouth, relaxing the rigidity of her body.• And then the Alouette was spinning like a top and curving off over the Aegean.• The road curves to the left as you go up the hill.From Longman Business Dictionarycurvecurve /kɜːvkɜːrv/ noun [countable] a diagram showing how a price or an amount changes in relation to another price, amount etcThe price curve is rising as the bond gets closer to maturity. → adoption curve → bell curve → demand curve → experience curve → indifference curve → yield curve → see also Laffer curve, learning curveOrigin curve2 (1600-1700) Latin curvare, from curvus “curved” 