[syn: flexion, flexure]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Flexure \Flex"ure\ (?; 135), n. [L. flexura.]
1. The act of flexing or bending; a turning or curving;
flexion; hence, obsequious bowing or bending.
[1913 Webster]
Will it give place to flexure and low bending?
--Shak.
[1913 Webster]
2. A turn; a bend; a fold; a curve.
[1913 Webster]
Varying with the flexures of the valley through
which it meandered. --British
Quart. Rev.
[1913 Webster]
3. (Zool.) The last joint, or bend, of the wing of a bird.
[1913 Webster]
4. (Astron.) The small distortion of an astronomical
instrument caused by the weight of its parts; the amount
to be added or substracted from the observed readings of
the instrument to correct them for this distortion.
[1913 Webster]
The flexure of a curve (Math.), the bending of a curve
towards or from a straight line.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
flexure
n 1: the state of being flexed (as of a joint) [syn: flexure,
flection, flexion]
2: an angular or rounded shape made by folding; "a fold in the
napkin"; "a crease in his trousers"; "a plication on her
blouse"; "a flexure of the colon"; "a bend of his elbow"
[syn: fold, crease, plication, flexure, crimp,
bend]
3: act of bending a joint; especially a joint between the bones
of a limb so that the angle between them is decreased [syn:
flexion, flexure] [ant: extension]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
58 Moby Thesaurus words for "flexure":
S-curve, angle, angularity, angularness, bend, bending, bow,
bowing, conflexure, crease, creasing, crimp, crookedness,
deflection, deflexure, diffraction, diffusion, dispersion,
distortion, dog-ear, double, doubling, duplicature, flection, flex,
flounce, fold, frill, gather, geanticline, geosyncline,
hairpin turn, hookedness, inflection, lapel, lappet, meander,
orthogonality, oxbow, plica, plication, plicature, ply,
rectangularity, reflection, refraction, right-angledness,
right-angularity, ruche, ruching, ruffle, scatter, skewness, sweep,
torsion, tuck, turn, turning