Behind the curve
a continuously bending line, without angles.
the act or extent of curving.
any curved outline, form, thing, or part.
a curved section of a road, path, hallway, etc.
Railroads. 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 feet (30 meters) long (degree of curve)
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.
a graphic representation of the variations effected in something by the influence of changing conditions; graph.
Mathematics. a collection of points whose coordinates are continuous functions of a single independent variable.
a misleading or deceptive trick; cheat; deception.
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.
Compare absolute (def 10).
a curved guide used in drafting.
to bend in a curve; cause to take the course of a curve.
to grade on a curve.
Baseball. to pitch a curve to.
to bend in a curve; take the course of a curve.
having the shape of a curve; curved.
ahead of / behind the curve, at the forefront of (or lagging behind) recent developments, trends, etc.
throw (someone) a curve,
to take (someone) by surprise, especially in a negative way.
to mislead or deceive.
noun
a continuously bending line that has no straight parts
something that curves or is curved, such as a bend in a road or the contour of a woman’s body
the act or extent of curving; curvature
(maths)
a system of points whose coordinates satisfy a given equation; a locus of points
the graph of a function with one independent variable
a line representing data, esp statistical data, on a graph: an unemployment curve
ahead of the curve, ahead of the times; ahead of schedule
behind the curve, behind the times; behind schedule
short for French curve
verb
to take or cause to take the shape or path of a curve; bend
v.
n.
v. curved, curv·ing, curves
To move in or take the shape of a curve.
curve
(kûrv)
see: throw a curve
Read Also:
- Behind the ears
behind the ears
- Behind the eight ball
Pool. a black ball bearing the number eight. a game in which one player or side must pocket all of either the solid-color balls or the striped ones before being permitted to attempt the pocketing of the eightball, which wins. Slang. an inept person. behind the eightball, Informal. in a difficult, disadvantageous, or uncomfortable situation: […]
- Behind the scenes
happening or conducted out of view of the general public: The behind-the-scenes preparations made the convention a huge success. held or kept privately by or among a few key or influential persons: behind-the-scenes negotiations. occurring backstage: the behind-the-scenes activities of the stage crew. the place where some action or event occurs: He returned to the […]
- Behind the times
the system of those sequential relations that any event has to any other, as past, present, or future; indefinite and continuous duration regarded as that in which events succeed one another. duration regarded as belonging to the present life as distinct from the life to come or from eternity; finite duration. (sometimes initial capital letter) […]
- Behind time
see under behind in Historical Examples A Roman Singer F. Marion Crawford Floyd Grandon’s Honor Amanda Minnie Douglas English: Composition and Literature W. F. (William Franklin) Webster A Modern Mercenary Kate Prichard and Hesketh Vernon Hesketh-Prichard Other People’s Money Emile Gaboriau Field and Hedgerow Richard Jefferies Golden Days for Boys and Girls, Vol. XII, Jan. […]