arc

[ ahrk ]
See synonyms for arc on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. Geometry. any unbroken part of the circumference of a circle or other curved line.

  2. Also called electric arc. Electricity. a luminous bridge formed in a gap between two electrodes.: Compare spark1 (def. 2).

  1. Astronomy. the part of a circle representing the apparent course of a heavenly body.

  2. anything bow-shaped.

verb (used without object),arced [ahrkt] /ɑrkt/ or arcked, arc·ing [ahr-king] /ˈɑr kɪŋ/ or arck·ing.
  1. to form an electric arc.

  2. to move in a curve suggestive of an arc.

Origin of arc

1
1350–1400; Middle English ark<Latin arcus bow, arch, curve

Words that may be confused with arc

Words Nearby arc

Other definitions for ARC (2 of 3)

ARC1
[ ahrk ]

noun

Other definitions for ARC (3 of 3)

ARC2

abbreviation
  1. American Red Cross.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use arc in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for arc (1 of 2)

arc

/ (ɑːk) /


noun
  1. something curved in shape

  2. part of an unbroken curved line

  1. a luminous discharge that occurs when an electric current flows between two electrodes or any other two surfaces separated by a small gap and a high potential difference

  2. astronomy a circular section of the apparent path of a celestial body

  3. maths a section of a curve, graph, or geometric figure

verbarcs, arcing, arced, arcs, arcking or arcked
  1. (intr) to form an arc

prefix
  1. maths specifying an inverse trigonometric function: usually written arcsin, arctan, arcsec, etc, or sometimes sin –1, tan –1, sec –1, etc

Origin of arc

1
C14: from Old French, from Latin arcus bow, arch

British Dictionary definitions for ARC (2 of 2)

ARC

abbreviation for
  1. AIDS-related complex: an early condition in which a person infected with the AIDS virus may suffer from such mild symptoms as loss of weight, fever, etc

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for arc

arc

[ ärk ]


  1. A segment of a circle.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.