CURVE


Meaning of CURVE in English

I.

noun

1 line or surface that bends

ADJECTIVE

▪ gentle , graceful , slight , smooth , soft

▪ sharp , tight

▪ sweeping , wide

▪ sensual , voluptuous

the voluptuous ~ of her hips

▪ feminine ~s , womanly ~s

▪ downward , upward

▪ natural

the natural ~ of your spine

VERB + CURVE

▪ form , make

The seats were arranged to form a ~.

PREPOSITION

▪ in a ~

The road follows the coast in a wide ~.

▪ ~ of

the ~ of his neck

PHRASES

▪ hug sb's ~s

The evening dress hugged her ~s beautifully.

2 ( AmE ) bend in the road

ADJECTIVE

▪ sharp , tight

The road went around in a tight ~.

VERB + CURVE

▪ come around , hug , negotiate , round

He slowed down to negotiate the ~.

PREPOSITION

▪ around a/the ~

The car vanished around a ~.

▪ at a/the ~

Slow down at the ~s.

▪ into a/the ~

A good motorcyclist leans into the ~s.

▪ ~ in

a ~ in the road

3 on a graph

ADJECTIVE

▪ steep

▪ bell

▪ normal , standard

▪ growth

▪ grading (= of students' grades) ( AmE )

▪ learning (= the rate at which you learn sth new)

Start-up businesses often have a steep learning ~.

VERB + CURVE

▪ plot

CURVE + VERB

▪ flatten out

▪ indicate sth , show sth

PHRASES

▪ grade on a ~ (= to adjust scores so that they fit a normal curve) ( AmE )

II.

verb

ADVERB

▪ gently , slightly

a gently curving stream

▪ gracefully

▪ strongly

▪ sharply

▪ away , down , up

The path ~d down to the bay.

PREPOSITION

▪ around , round ( esp. BrE ), towards/toward , etc.

The road ~d away around the back of the hill.

PHRASES

▪ ~ into a smile

His mouth ~d into a smile.

Curve is used with these nouns as the subject: ↑ lip , ↑ mouth , ↑ road , ↑ street

Curve is used with these nouns as the object: ↑ spine

Oxford Collocations English Dictionary.      Оксфордский английский словарь словосочетаний .