Flex"ure (?; 135), n. [L. flexura.]

1.

The act of flexing or bending; a turning or curving; flexion; hence, obsequious bowing or bending.

Will it give place to flexure and low bending? Shak.

2.

A turn; a bend; a fold; a curve.

Varying with the flexures of the valley through which it meandered. British Quart. Rev.

3. Zool.

The last joint, or bend, of the wing of a bird.

4. Astron.

The small distortion of an astronomical instrument caused by the weight of its parts; the amount to be added or substracted from the observed readings of the instrument to correct them for this distortion.

The flexure of a curve Math., the bending of a curve towards or from a straight line.

 

© Webster 1913.