bell curve

noun

plural bell curves

: the symmetrical bell-shaped curve of a normal distribution : normal curve

Along the hilly slopes of the bell curve, most values—the data points that track whatever is being measured—are clustered around the middle. The average value is also the most common value.

—David A. Shaywitz

Examples of bell curve in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Bottom: a bell curve of the typical temperatures, showing that the hot outliers are all recent years. —John Timmer, Ars Technica, 14 May 2024

But there are potential ways to help the tool evolve with the changing climate, including expanding its baseline to include wetter periods before the onset of the current megadrought, which would help even out the bell curve and reduce the frequency of extremes, the researchers said. —Hayley Smith, Los Angeles Times, 3 June 2024

Just imposing on faculty a bell curve in grading every course would be immense intellectual hygiene. —Brian T. Allen, National Review, 11 Jan. 2024

In real life, the distribution of how much people drive looks more or less like a bell curve. —Gideon Lewis-Kraus, The New Yorker, 30 Sep. 2023

Word History

Etymology

from the shape

First Known Use

1919, in the meaning defined above