arc

(ärk)

1. Something shaped like a curve or arch: the vivid arc of a rainbow.

2. Mathematics A segment of a circle.

3. An electric arc.

4. Astronomy The apparent path of a celestial body as it rises above and falls below the horizon.

5. A progression of events suggesting narrative cohesion, especially one that rises to a climax and settles to a final conclusion.

intr.v. arced (ärkt), arc·ing (är′kĭng), arcs

1. To form an arc.

2. To move or seem to move in a curved path: the stars that arc across the sky.

[Middle English ark, from Old French arc, from Latin arcus.]

ARC

abbr.

1. AIDS-related complex

2. American Red Cross

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Adj.

arced - forming or resembling an arch; "an arched ceiling"

arching, arciform, arcuate, bowed, arched

architecture - the discipline dealing with the principles of design and construction and ornamentation of fine buildings; "architecture and eloquence are mixed arts whose end is sometimes beauty and sometimes use"

curved, curving - having or marked by a curve or smoothly rounded bend; "the curved tusks of a walrus"; "his curved lips suggested a smile but his eyes were hard"

arced

adjective

Deviating from a straight line:

arched, arciform, bent, bowed, curved, curvilinear, rounded.