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Curved so that the apex hangs down; having the top bent downward.

Not lying in one plane; -- said of certain curves.

A straight line or plane drawn from any point of a curve or surface so as to be perpendicular to the curve or surface at that point.

s. Oar cock (Zoöl), the water rail. [Prov. Eng.] -- Spoon oar, an oar having the blade so curved as to afford a better hold upon the water in rowing. -- To boat the oars, to cease rowing, and lay the oars in the boat. -- To feather the oars. See under Feather., v. t. -- To lie on the oars, to cease pulling, raising…

ed for any purpose. Ogee arch (Arch.), a pointed arch, each of the sides of which has the curve of an ogee, that is, has a reversed curve near the apex.

An instrument with a revolving wheel for measuring a curved line, as on a map.

Rank; degree; thus, the order of a curve or surface is the same as the degree of its equation. Artificial order or system. See Artificial classification, under Artificial, and Note to def. 12 above. -- Close order (Mil.), the arrangement of the ranks with a distance of about half a pace between them; with a distance o…

The distance of any point in a curve or a straight line, measured on a line called the axis of ordinates or on a line parallel to it, from another line called the axis of abscissas, on which the corresponding abscissa of the point is measured.

Right-angled; rectangular; as, an orthogonal intersection of one curve with another. Orthogonal projection. See under Orthographic.

Perpendicularly; at right angles; as, a curve cuts a set of curves orthogonally.

The contact of one curve with another, when the number of consecutive points of the latter through which the former passes suffices for the complete determination of the former curve. Brande & C.

roperties of, an osculatrix; capable of osculation; as, a circle may be osculatory with a curve, at a given point. Osculatory circle. (Geom.) See Osculating circle of a curve, under Circle. -- Osculatory plane (to a curve of double curvature), a plane which passes through three successive points of the curve. -- Oscu…

A curve whose contact with a given curve, at a given point, is of a higher order (or involves the equality of a greater number of successive differential coefficients of the ordinates of the curves taken at that point) than that of any other curve of the same kind.

Convex; curved outward. "The convex or outbowed side of a vessel." Bp. Hall.

from two fixed points is constant; -- so called from Cassini, who first investigated the curve. Thus, in the diagram, if P moves so that P A.P B is constant, the point P describes a Cassinian oval. The locus may consist of a single closed line, as shown by the dotted line, or of two equal ovals about the points A and…

A piece of timber fixed on a beam to fit the curve of the deck. W. C. Russel.

The curvet of a horse.

A kind of curve; one of the conic sections formed by the intersection of the surface of a cone with a plane parallel to one of its sides. It is a curve, any point of which is equally distant from a fixed point, called the focus, and a fixed straight line, called the directrix. See Focus.

e form or nature of a parabola; pertaining to, or resembling, a parabola; as, a parabolic curve.

Deviating from circularity; changing the distance from a center. Paracentric curve (Math.), a curve having the property that, when its plane is placed vertically, a body descending along it, by the force of gravity, will approach to, or recede from, a fixed point or center, by equal distances in equal times; -- called…