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cur

[kur]
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noun

a mongrel dog, especially a worthless or unfriendly one.
a mean, cowardly person.

RELATED WORDS

skunk, toad, coward, dog, villain, riffraff, rat, wretch, good-for-nothing, snake, bum, scum, blackguard, hound, scoundrel, heel, cad, stinker, worm

Nearby words

  1. cupulate,
  2. cupule,
  3. cupuliform cataract,
  4. cupulogram,
  5. cupulometry,
  6. cur dog,
  7. cur.,
  8. cur. adv. vult,
  9. curable,
  10. curacao

Origin of cur

1175–1225; Middle English curre, apparently shortened from curdogge. See cur dog
Related formscur·like, adjective

cur.

currency.
current.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for cur

British Dictionary definitions for cur

cur

noun

any vicious dog, esp a mongrel
a despicable or cowardly person

Word Origin for cur

C13: shortened from kurdogge; probably related to Old Norse kurra to growl
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
Word Origin and History for cur

cur

n.

early 13c., curre, earlier kurdogge used of both vicious dogs and cowardly dogs, probably from Old Norse kurra or Middle Low German korren both echoic, both meaning "to growl." Cf. Swedish dialectal kurre, Middle Dutch corre "house dog."

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper