flexure

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)The act of bending or flexing; flexion.
2. (countable, uncountable)A turn; a bend; a fold; a curve.

   “varying with the flexures of the valley through which it meandered”

3. (countable, uncountable)A part of a machine designed to bend in operation.
4. (countable, uncountable)A curve or bend in a tubular organ.

   “The Stomach [of a weasel] about three inches long; proportionably, more than a Dogs. An inch in Diametre at the upper Orifice; and the nether, ¼; having a flexure towards its Conjunction with the Guts: ſhaped like to the body of a pair of Bag-Pipes.”

5. (countable, uncountable)The last joint, or bend, of the wing of a bird.
6. (countable, uncountable)The small distortion of an astronomical instrument caused by the weight of its parts; the amount to be added or subtracted from the observed readings of the instrument to correct them for this distortion.

verb

1. To introduce a flexure into; to bend or flex.