Flexure

Part of speech: noun (n.)

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

4. 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.