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number line
noun
: a line of infinite extent whose points correspond to the real numbers according to their distance in a positive or negative direction from a point arbitrarily taken as zero
Examples of number line in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The number line was more crowded, and weirder, than anyone had imagined.
—Jordana Cepelewicz, Quanta Magazine, 21 June 2024
Their distribution on the number line, in particular, remains a mystery.
—Manon Bischoff, Scientific American, 7 June 2024
In the game, which is designed to strengthen the brain circuits that support number sense, the child tries to beat a cartoon opponent to the end of a number line disguised as a colorful racetrack.
—Carlin Flora, Discover Magazine, 19 Nov. 2013
This left open the question of how these infinitely many Carmichael numbers are distributed along the number line.
—Quanta Magazine, 28 Nov. 2023
Yet this power is constrained by mathematicians’ limited understanding of how primes are distributed along the number line.
—Erica Klarreich, Quanta Magazine, 26 Oct. 2023
And now, for the first time, a team of researchers has found direct evidence of a mental number line in a non-human species: chickens.
—Ben Thomas, Discover Magazine, 29 Jan. 2015
Is there a set of points on that line, on the number line, which is larger than the natural numbers, larger than the rationals, but smaller than the whole line itself?
—Steven Strogatz, Quanta Magazine, 19 Apr. 2023
Like, every subset of this number line, the real number line, is either countable, or there’s a copy of the Cantor set that lives inside of it.
—Steven Strogatz, Quanta Magazine, 19 Apr. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'number line.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1956, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near number line
Cite this Entry
“Number line.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/number%20line. Accessed 4 Jul. 2024.
Kids Definition
number line
noun
: a line without ends whose points are matched to the real numbers by their distance from a given point labeled zero
More from Merriam-Webster on number line
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about number line
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