arc

noun

1. That part of a circle which a heavenly body appears to pass through as it moves above and below the horizon.
2. A continuous part of the circumference of a circle (circular arc) or of another curve.

   “The arc of a circle may be very little, but, given that, it is possible to construct the entire figure.”

3. A curve, in general.
4. A band contained within parallel curves, or something of that shape.
5. A flow of current across an insulating medium; especially a hot, luminous discharge either between two electrodes or as lightning.
6. (abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis)Ellipsis of story arc.

   “For while most comics have designated entry points into the story in the form of arcs, Homestuck is one elaborate, self-referencing inside joke collapsed inside its own funhouse mirror reflection.”

7. (Internet, broadly)Ellipsis of story arc.

   “I'm hitting the gym three times a week or more at the moment. I'm in my gym bro arc.”

   “I miss my drawing arc. I feel like I was much more creative back then.”

8. A continuous mapping from a real interval (typically [0, 1]) into a space.
9. A directed edge.
10. (slang)The three-point line.
11. An arclight.

    “For all practical purposes the old carbon arcs, which were the backbone of film lighting, are no longer used.”

12. (abbreviation, acronym, alt-of, countable, uncountable)Acronym of advance reader's copy, a copy of a book given to a reviewer free in advance for review purposes.

    ““One of them came up to me in a signing line and asked for a blurb,” says Jen. “Can you believe it? Title I’ve never heard of, from some small press I’ve never heard of, and she comes up to me with a bound ARC, beaming, like of course I’m going to say yes.””

13. (abbreviation, alt-of, countable, initialism, uncountable)Initialism of AIDS-related complex.
14. (abbreviation, acronym, alt-of, uncountable)Acronym of automatic reference counting.

verb

1. (ambitransitive)To move following a curved path.

   “A warring bloodhunter detected it and skillfully arced his sword through its spinal column before it could return to follow through with its attack.”

   “Gatland's side got back to within striking distance when fly-half Jones's clever pass sent centre Jonathan Davies arcing round Shontayne Hape.”

   “The big wheel in the sky He arcs o'er miles and miles”

2. (transitive)To shape into an arc; to hold in the form of an arc.

   “His mother, her eyes raised to heaven, hands arked before her, moving, made real for John that patience, that endurance, that long suffering, which he had read in the Bible and found so hard to image.”

3. (intransitive)To form an electrical arc.

name

1. (abbreviation, alt-of, initialism)Initialism of American Red Cross.
2. The Colombian Navy (Armada de la República de Colombia).
3. (historical)A suggested location where the historical figure Joan of Arc, or her father, were from.

adj

1. (initialism, not-comparable)A ship's prefix for warships of the navy of Colombia.