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

In reality, the severity of conditions such as depression, substance dependence and social anxiety varies across the population following the pattern of the classic bell curve. —Ingrid Wickelgren, Scientific American, 4 Mar. 2024

Kids at the other end of this bell curve deserve all of those services and many more. —Constance Grady, Vox, 14 Aug. 2024

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

Word History

Etymology

from the shape

First Known Use

1919, in the meaning defined above