FLEXURE

flexure. Flexure, n. apart bent, bend, act of bending, joint

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Flex″ure (?; 135), n. [[L. flexura.]] 1. 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. 2. A turn; a bend; a fold; a curve.
Varying with the flexures of the valley through which it meandered. British Quart. Rev. 3. 3. (Zoöl.) The last joint, or bend, of the wing of a bird.
4. 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.