Flexure

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. (Zoöl.) 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.