arcs

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of arc.

   Students used a compass to draw two intersecting arcs on the diagram.

   The writers mapped out three arcs for the show's final season.

   Note

   Every noun meaning of arc shares this regular plural: the curves a compass draws, curved bands, the paths heavenly bodies seem to trace, and electrical discharges such as lightning. In talk about fiction, arcs on its own is short for story arcs. The same spelling also serves as the present-tense verb, as in a spark arcs across the gap.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of arc.

   The road arcs around the lake before climbing into the hills.

   The old stone bridge arcs gracefully over the river.

   Note

   A present-tense form that carries three verb meanings, each with its own grammar. Movement along a curve works with or without an object: a ball arcs over the fence, a pitcher arcs the ball toward the plate. Shaping always takes one, as when a dancer arcs her back; the electrical meaning never does, and current simply arcs between two wires.

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