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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Adiabatic \Ad`i*a*bat"ic\, a. [Gr. 'adia`batos not passable; 'a
priv. dia` through bai`nein to go.] (Physics)
Not giving out or receiving heat. -- {Ad`i*a*bat`ic*al*ly},
adv.
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]

Note: The adiabatic expansion of carbon dioxide from a
compressed container causes the temperature of the gas
to decrease rapidly below its freezing point, resulting
in the familiar carbon dioxide "snow" emitted by carbon
dioxide fire extinguishers.
[PJC.]

{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.
[1913 Webster]


Curve \Curve\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Curved} (k[^u]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.
[1913 Webster]


Curve \Curve\ (k[^u]rv), a. [L. curvus bent, curved. See
{Cirb}.]
Bent without angles; crooked; curved; as, a curve line; a
curve surface.
[1913 Webster]


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.
[1913 Webster]

2. (Geom.) A line described according to some low, and having
no finite portion of it a straight line.
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{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}.
[1913 Webster]


Curve \Curve\, v. i.
To bend or turn gradually from a given direction; as, the
road curves to the right.
[1913 Webster]