Curve, v. t. [imp. & p.p. Curved (krvd); p. pr. & vb. n. Curving.]
Etymology: [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.
3 other Webster entries under this spelling
Curve (krv), a.
Bent without angles; crooked; curved; as, a curve line; a curve surface.
Curve, n.
1. A bending without angles; that wcich is bent; a flexure; as, a curve in a railway or canal.
2. (Geom.)
A line described according to some low, and having no finite portion of it a straight line. 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 perculiarities 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.
Curve, v. i.
To bend or turn gradually from a given direction; as, the road curves to the right.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for curve; he lists it under bend.
He lists it without comment; the entries above explain its neighbors.