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• cure
  cure

  noun

  a means of healing or restoring to health; remedy.
• curé
  curé

  noun

  (in France) a parish priest.

cure

¹ American  

[kyoor] / kjʊər /

noun

• cures
  plural

1. a means of healing or restoring to health; remedy.

2. a method or course of remedial treatment, as for disease.

   Synonyms:

   antidote, specific, restorative, remedy

3. successful remedial treatment; restoration to health.

4. a means of correcting or relieving anything that is troublesome or detrimental.

   The administration is seeking a cure for inflation.

5. the act or a method of preserving meat, fish, etc., by smoking, salting, or the like.

6. spiritual or religious charge of the people in a certain district.

7. the office or district of a curate or parish priest.

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verb (used with object)

• cures,
  present (3rd person singular)
• cured,
  past participle,  past
• curing
  present participle

1. to restore to health.

2. to relieve or rid of something detrimental, such as an illness or a bad habit.

3. to correct (a document, especially a mail-in ballot) in order to make it valid.

   If the voter’s signature is missing, the county board sends them a certification form allowing the voter to cure the ballot so it can be counted.

4. to prepare (meat, fish, etc.) for preservation by salting, drying, etc.

5. to promote hardening of (fresh concrete or mortar), as by keeping it damp.

6. to process (rubber, tobacco, etc.) as by fermentation or aging.

verb (used without object)

• cures,
  present (3rd person singular)
• cured,
  past participle,  past
• curing
  present participle

1. to effect a cure.

2. to become cured.

curé ² American  

[kyoo-rey, kyoor-ey, ky-rey] / kjʊˈreɪ, ˈkjʊər eɪ, küˈreɪ /

noun

• curés
  plural

1. (in France) a parish priest.

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cure ¹ British  

/ kjʊə /

verb

1. (tr) to get rid of (an ailment, fault, or problem); heal

2. (tr) to restore to health or good condition

3. (intr) to bring about a cure

4. (tr) to preserve (meat, fish, etc) by salting, smoking, etc

5. (tr)

   1. to treat or finish (a substance) by chemical or physical means

   2. to vulcanize (rubber)

   3. to allow (a polymer) to set often using heat or pressure

6. (tr) to assist the hardening of (concrete, mortar, etc) by keeping it moist

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noun

1. a return to health, esp after specific treatment

2. any course of medical therapy, esp one proved effective in combating a disease

3. a means of restoring health or improving a condition, situation, etc

4. the spiritual and pastoral charge of a parish

   the cure of souls

5. a process or method of preserving meat, fish, etc, by salting, pickling, or smoking

curé ² British  

/ ˈkjʊəreɪ /

noun

1. a parish priest in France

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cure Idioms  

1. see kill or cure; ounce of prevention (is worth a pound of cure); sure cure.

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Synonym Usage

Cure, heal, remedy imply making well, whole, or right. Cure is applied to the eradication of disease or sickness: to cure a headache. Heal suggests the making whole of wounds, sores, etc.: to heal a burn. Remedy applies especially to making wrongs right: to remedy a mistake.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• curer
  noun
• cureless
  adjective
• half-cured
  adjective
• overcured
  adjective
• semicured
  adjective
• uncured
  adjective
• well-cured
  adjective
• curelessly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• cures
  plural
• curés
  plural

Participles

• curing
  present
• cured
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• cure
  simple
• cures
  simple
• have cured
  perfect
• has cured
  perfect
• am curing
  progressive
• are curing
  progressive
• is curing
  progressive
• have been curing
  perfect progressive
• has been curing
  perfect progressive

Past

• cured
  simple
• had cured
  perfect
• was curing
  progressive
• were curing
  progressive
• had been curing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will cure
  simple
• will have cured
  perfect
• will be curing
  progressive
• will have been curing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of cure¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, Old French noun cure, from Latin cūra “care”; verb derivative of the noun

Origin of curé²

1645–55; < French, Old French; modeled on Medieval Latin cūrātus parish priest; see curate

Explanation

A cure is a treatment that ends an illness or makes you feel better. There is no cure for the common cold, or for a broken heart. Waaaaa. Many researchers focus on finding cures for diseases like cancer and diabetes — while it is possible to recover from incurable illnesses, it's not possible to cure them. You could also say, "This Florida winter is going to cure me of missing Minnesota!" When someone cures meat or fish, they smoke or salt it to preserve it. The Latin root is curare, "take care of."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cure curé cures curés cured curing

The change "will allow me to focus on long-term strategy, and accelerating scientific breakthroughs, including leaning into my work at Isomorphic to help cure disease," Hassabis wrote in a social media post.

From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026

He said she ignored doctors' advice to accept conventional treatment and became a "victim of misinformation about cancer", putting her faith in the drugs in the hope of a cure.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

It was not as though the open air of a farmers market was going to cure my base shopping instincts.

From Salon ● Aug. 4, 2026

Some available treatments can slow the disease, but most primarily address symptoms, and none can cure it.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 3, 2026

They thought they were using their knowledge to cure patients.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

The curé rose directly, but would not part with Gerard.

From The Cloister and the Hearth A Tale of the Middle Ages by Reade, Charles

Then the curé steeped the thumb of St. Sergius in beef broth.

From The Cloister and the Hearth A Tale of the Middle Ages by Reade, Charles

After the funeral rites Gerard stepped respectfully up to the curé, and offered to buy a mass for their souls.

From The Cloister and the Hearth A Tale of the Middle Ages by Reade, Charles

The curé speedily closed out the light with a wooden shutter.

From The Cloister and the Hearth A Tale of the Middle Ages by Reade, Charles

The curé did not keep them waiting long, though it seemed an age.

From The Cloister and the Hearth A Tale of the Middle Ages by Reade, Charles

Essentially, the man appears to be opting out of the medical establishment altogether, while using his own girlfriend and his “clone baby” as experimental proving grounds for self-starter cures involving lots of peptides.

From Slate ● Jul. 31, 2026

FDA approved anti amyloid therapies now target disease biology in early Alzheimer's, though they are not cures and do not restore lost memory or cognitive function.

From Science Daily ● May 27, 2026

“Like an ice cube that freezes from the outside in — this stuff cures, it heats up and cures from the outside in,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 24, 2026

Finding the right mix of legislative and policy cures is the mandate of the National Commission on the Future of the U.S.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026

Doctors in the 1860s did not know as much about diseases and their cures as they do now.

From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly

In the case of the French curés, the crucial story was that of Christ’s life and death as told by the Catholic Church.

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari

Laval continued to dispute from time to time with the Home Government concerning the system of movable curés which had been instituted by him.

From The Canadian Portrait Gallery - Volumes 1 to 4 by Dent, John Charles

I know very well that the other curés chant the Passion quite differently.

From Flowers from a Persian Garden and Other Papers by Clouston, William Alexander

The ghelungs are the ordinary priests, and may be compared in rank and functions to the French country curés.

From Travels in the Steppes of the Caspian Sea, the Crimea, the Caucasus, &c. by Hell, Xavier Hommaire de

There is a great love for the culte here among our people—a very great love for it; but they do not like to be meddled with in politics by the curés or the priests.

From France and the Republic A Record of Things Seen and Learned in the French Provinces During the 'Centennial' Year 1889 by Hurlbert, William Henry

I considered prosciutto, roast beef, cured meats and even a pickle-heavy chickpea salad.

From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2026

Each sandwich at Yerord Mas includes at least half a pound of Australian Wagyu, which costs about $11.50 per pound and is cured and smoked on site.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026

In the original 2009 paper, the concept was that any food which required some form of cooking—including bread, cured sausages, corn chips, etc.—would be considered an “ultra” processed food product.

From Slate ● Jul. 12, 2026

It cannot be cured, but treatment can help manage it.

From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026

It’s based on the concepts of Emerson’s “Self-Reliance,” and it’s about how The Taker cured his loneliness at his old school through nonconformity and inconsistency.

From "A Heart in a Body in the World" by Deb Caletti

That’s what his seeming break with longevity actually entails: an overhaul of his life’s mission away from “lifemaxxing” toward more specific goals like curing the incurable.

From Slate ● Jul. 31, 2026

In 2023, she became a patron of Brain Tumour Research - a charity dedicated to curing the disease.

From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026

UV light is used for air purification, curing resins in 3D printing, hardening gels in dental fillings, and even applications such as nail treatments.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 26, 2026

Croft and Neale know they aren’t necessarily close to the finish line when it comes to curing dementia.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2026

“I have the passion of cooking, pickling, curing salamis, sausage, making wine in the fall. This is my life. I do this with my friends. It’s to my heart.”

From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan

Related Words

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