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
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This has been known since the 1870s, when the German mathematician Georg Cantor proved that the set of real numbers (all the numbers on the number line) is larger than the set of whole numbers, even though both sets are infinite.
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Gregory Barber, Quanta Magazine, 20 June 2025
After so many years spent peering through the fog, mathematicians are finally starting to clearly discern an array of landmarks in one of their most fundamental landscapes — the number line.
—Erica Klarreich, Quanta Magazine, 8 Jan. 2025
Now studies show that the concept of zero is processed in similar ways to many numbers and can be situated along a mental number line.
—Michaela Maya-Mrschtik, Scientific American, 21 Oct. 2024
No longer a placeholder, the digit acquired a value and found its place on the number line, before 1.
—Quanta Magazine, 18 Oct. 2024
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Gregory Barber, Quanta Magazine, 20 June 2025
After so many years spent peering through the fog, mathematicians are finally starting to clearly discern an array of landmarks in one of their most fundamental landscapes — the number line.
—Erica Klarreich, Quanta Magazine, 8 Jan. 2025
Now studies show that the concept of zero is processed in similar ways to many numbers and can be situated along a mental number line.
—Michaela Maya-Mrschtik, Scientific American, 21 Oct. 2024
No longer a placeholder, the digit acquired a value and found its place on the number line, before 1.
—Quanta Magazine, 18 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for number line
Cite this Entry
“Number line.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/number%20line. Accessed 3 Jul. 2025.
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