curves

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of curve.

   The mountain pass twists through a series of tight curves.

   The graph showed two overlapping curves rising toward the same peak.

   Note

   A regular plural with a twin spelling: the same word is also the present-tense verb, as in the road curves. A determiner or number in front settles which one you have (two curves, a series of tight curves), and a plural verb follows (the curves ahead are icy). The plural covers a road's bends and a mathematician's figures alike, from hairpins on a mountain pass to lines plotted on a graph.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of curve.

   The highway curves sharply just past the tunnel exit.

   Her signature curves into an elaborate flourish at the end.

   Note

   Whether the verb takes an object decides the meaning. Without one, something bends gradually on its own: the river curves west. With one, someone does the bending or the swerving: she curves the wire into a hook, the pitcher curves the ball. In slang it can also mean turning down romantic advances (he curves everyone who asks), a use best kept to casual talk.

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