Background for asymptotes

asymptotes

/ˈæsɪmptoʊts/

Illustration asymptotes - Image 1

noun

A straight line which a curve approaches arbitrarily closely, as they go to infinity. The limit of the curve, its tangent "at infinity".

Examples :

"In math class, we learned that graphs can have asymptotes, which are lines that the graph gets closer and closer to, but never actually touches, as the numbers on the axes get very big. "

Illustration asymptotes - Image 1

noun

(by extension) Anything which comes near to but never meets something else.

Examples :

""Despite their hard work and practice, the students' test scores seemed to approach perfect, but always fell short, like asymptotes to the perfect score." "

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