to arch
- verb
- /ɑrtʃ/
- During the yoga class, the instructor asked us to arch our backs to improve our flexibility.
- arch your back
So that's where the brow should start to arch right at the outside before we get to the white.
- So that's where the brow should start to arch right at the outside before we get to the white.
Examples
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" She rises unsteadily, presses her hands against her bony hips, arches her back in a slow stretch.
Fiction book (1993) -
Arch your back.
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Can you arch your back just a little bit?
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Could you arch your back?
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Arch your back for me.
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Arch your back and lock your arm around your knee.
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Hold your tummy and arch your back a little more?
Fiction book (1992) -
Arch your back more.
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Don't arch your back.
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To perform the stretch correctly, you need to arch your back while keeping your shoulders relaxed.
Synonyms
To make something curved instead of straight
To bend into a smooth, rounded shape
To curve under pressure, like a branch or metal
To move in a smooth curved path, like lightning across the sky
Form a curved shape above something like a road or river
To make a curved shape over something, like a roof or bridge
Phrasal Verbs
Compounds
- Specialized
A curved part of the main artery from the heart that sends blood to the head, neck, and arms
- Specialized
A curved bone on the side of the skull where the cheek meets the head
- Specialized
The curved part of the foot becomes flat so the whole sole touches the ground
- Specialized
Curved bony part at the back of a spine bone that surrounds the spinal cord
- Specialized
An arch over a stage that makes a frame between the actors and the audience
- Specialized
An arch with a wide, flat curve made from parts of three circles, often used in bridges and large buildings
- Specialized
An arch with a rounded top that rests on stones sticking out from a wall like a bell
- Specialized
A series of arches on each side of a fish's throat that support the gills
- Specialized
An arch with a flat top and a slightly curved bottom used in doorways or bridges
- Specialized
An arch made by stacking layers of stone or brick that stick inward until they meet at the top
- Specialized
An arch that rests on a strong wall at one or both ends to carry weight
- Specialized
A straight horizontal top for a door or window made of angled stones that support each other
- Specialized
A wide, low arch with a gentle point used in old churches and houses
- Specialized
A curved area under the front of the foot that supports weight when standing or walking
- Specialized
An arch wider at the bottom that curves to a rounded top and appears in Islamic buildings
- Specialized
A curved bone or cartilage in the throat of fish and some water amphibians that holds the gills
- Specialized
A curved half-circle shape above a door or bridge seen in Roman buildings
- Specialized
Bones near the shoulder made of the collarbones and shoulder blades that support the arm
A curved section in a thick wall that holds the wall above an opening like a window or door
- Specialized
An arch with a curve smaller than a half circle used for doors and bridges
- Specialized
A curved structure shaped like a half circle used above doors and bridges
- Specialized
A foot problem where the middle part is flat so the whole bottom of the foot touches the ground
- Specialized
A curved opening made by joining three curves into a wide, low shape
- Specialized
A curved support built between short floor beams to carry the weight of a fireplace opening
- Specialized
A cone-shaped corner support that helps carry a dome over a square room
- Specialized
An arch with a horizontal beam resting on stones that stick in from each side of an opening
- Specialized
An arch with ends that meet the front at an angle and that is used on bridges or tunnels
- Specialized
A structure with a straight horizontal top made of stones cut like wedges that support each other
- Specialized
Curved bony part at the back of a spine bone that protects the spinal cord
How Curved
Surface Forms
Etymology
Arch as a verb comes from the same idea of Latin arcus 'bow' and the noun arch, meaning 'to make a curve like a bow'. So to arch your back or eyebrows is to bend them into a curved shape.