curl up


verb(adverb)
  1. (intr) to adopt a reclining position with the legs close to the body and the back rounded

  2. to become or cause to become spiral-shaped or curved

  1. (intr) to retire to a quiet cosy setting: to curl up with a good novel

  2. British informal to be or cause to be embarrassed or disgusted (esp in the phrase curl up and die)

Words Nearby curl up

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

How to use curl up in a sentence

  • But I'll sell it, and sit under thatched hurdles as they did in old times, and curl up to sleep in a lock of straw!

  • And he released his hold upon the chart, allowing the corner he had been holding to spring back and curl up.

    A Middy of the King | Harry Collingwood
  • She would never again look kindly at me, or curl up to me at night to keep me warm.

    Beautiful Joe | Marshall Saunders
  • He tore it up and threw the fragments in the fire, and watched them curl up and carry their secret away with them.

    Katharine Frensham | Beatrice Harraden

Other Idioms and Phrases with curl up

curl up

Assume a position with the legs drawn up; settle down for sleep in this posture. For example, I love to curl up with a good book. [c. 1900]

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.