marcel
verb (used with object)
to wave (the hair) by means of special irons, producing the effect of regular, continuous waves marcel waves.
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Fictional Characters dictionary results for Marcel.
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marcel
1 American
[mahr-sel]
/ mɑrˈsɛl /
verb (used with object)
marcelled,
marcelling
noun
-
a marcelling.
-
a marcelled condition.
Marcel
2
American
[mahr-sel, ma r -sel]
/ mɑrˈsɛl, marˈsɛl /
noun
-
Gabriel 1887–1973, French philosopher, dramatist, and critic.
-
a male given name.
marcel
1
British
/ mɑːˈsɛl /
noun
verb
Marcel
2
British
/ marsɛl /
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of marcel
First recorded in 1890–95; named after Marcel Grateau (1852–1936), French hairdresser who originated it
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The Harlem in “The Back Room” is a site for “fine gowns and tuxedos, marcel waves and glitter.”
From Washington Times ● Jan. 15, 2020
My aunties would come to town from Chicago and get the marcel iron out,” she said.
From New York Times ● Sep. 14, 2018
The cynical theatrical population dared the visitors to rearrange its smooth marcel into a prickly pompadour.
From Time Magazine Archive
Lily, his wife, unwilling to muss her new marcel wave before he saw it, waited, and kept ready a hot cup of tea.
From Time Magazine Archive
Say, I went round so fast both skates clinched in my marcel wave.
From The Sorrows of a Show Girl by Kenneth McGaffey
Its president Marcel Fratzscher predicted a "shock" that would batter growth and paradoxically hit the hardest in regions with the strongest AfD support.
From Barron's ● Sep. 1, 2026
“After bravely facing a brief battle with cancer, Dolly departed her Earthly life today at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center surrounded by loved ones,” her publicist, Marcel Pariseau, said in a statement Tuesday.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 28, 2026
"Our results show that how soil is managed can significantly affect both soil life and soil quality," says co-study leader Marcel van der Heijden, UZH professor of agroecology.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 28, 2026
But that’s when Les Bleus tapped into the same French patience that gave the world art house cinema, endless summer lunches, and the collected works of Marcel Proust.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026
Not about David Marcel, or Patrick, or the picture, but about everything else: television, her hair, music, her brother.
From "Goodbye Stranger" by Rebecca Stead
Were the Roaring Twenties a time of release, as they’re often depicted in pop culture — all those glittery dresses and tiaras and marcelled hair!
From New York Times ● Sep. 6, 2021
In one still from Peacock Records, the processed and marcelled hair that was Little Richard’s irrepressible glory has been squashed beneath a calypsonian’s straw hat.
From New York Times ● May 11, 2020
Her previously loose and tawny hair is now marcelled and peroxide blond; her glittering but shapeless black gown projects the expensive glamour of a society matron.
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 14, 2017
In her 300-room castle at Nordkirchen, Princess Valerie-Marie of Schleswig-Holstein, great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria, ran her fingers through marcelled hair at the sight of bearded G.I.s tracking mud on her carpets.
From Time Magazine Archive
Perhaps that’s why, standing there on the porch, unmindful of her behind, she easily believed that what was coming up the steps toward her was another true-as-life Dorcas, four marcelled waves and all.
From "Jazz" by Toni Morrison
Last week Jonah Uden was pronounced capable of waving, marcelling, bobbing, shingling and shampooing.
From Time Magazine Archive
Like women sitting for two hours under the marcelling irons only to wonder two days later how soon they would need another appointment.
From "Sula" by Toni Morrison
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
