Meaning & use
bell-shaped curve
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Meanings
nouncountablemathematics
A smooth, symmetrical graph that rises to a peak in the middle and falls away evenly on both sides, showing how values cluster around an average.
Grammar: Takes an or the: a bell-shaped curve.
Patterns
- follow a bell-shaped curve
- plot a bell-shaped curve
Heights in a large group of adults form a bell-shaped curve.
The teacher showed the class scores on a bell-shaped curve.
Most test results sat near the top of the bell-shaped curve.
nounsingularinformal
A method of grading in which marks are fitted to this pattern so only a few get the highest or lowest grades.
Grammar: Often used with on: graded on a bell-shaped curve.
Patterns
- graded on a bell-shaped curve
The professor graded the exam on a bell-shaped curve.
Students worried that the bell-shaped curve would lower their marks.
Word forms
| plural | bell-shaped curves |
|---|
Common combinations
- follow a bell-shaped curve
- Adult heights follow a bell-shaped curve.
- fall on a bell-shaped curve
- Most scores fall on a bell-shaped curve.
- draw a bell-shaped curve
- Draw a bell-shaped curve and mark the mean.
- the peak of the bell-shaped curve
- The average sits at the peak of the bell-shaped curve.
- grade on a bell-shaped curve
- The class was graded on a bell-shaped curve.
Synonyms and how they differ
- normal distribution
- Normal distribution is the formal statistical name for the pattern, while bell-shaped curve describes how it looks.
- bell curve
- Bell curve is the shorter everyday version of the same phrase.
- Gaussian curve
- Gaussian curve is named after the mathematician Gauss and is used in more advanced science.
Word family
- bell curve noun
- a shorter name for the same graph
- bell-shaped adjective
- having a rounded form like a bell
- curve noun
- a line that bends smoothly
- distribution noun
- how values are spread across a range
Commonly confused: bell-shaped curve or skewed distribution?
bell-shaped curve vs skewed distribution
A skewed distribution is lopsided with a longer tail on one side, unlike the balanced shape of a bell-shaped curve.
Practice
On a bell-shaped curve, where do most values fall?
Choose one answer.
Most values cluster around the average at the center. Equal spread would give a flat line, not a bell.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “bell-shaped curve”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.