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.