curbstone

American

[kurb-stohn] / ˈkɜrbˌstoʊn /

British, kerbstone

noun

one of the stones, or a range of stones, forming a curb, as along a street.

curbstone British

/ ˈkɜːbˌstəʊn /

noun

the US spelling of kerbstone

"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

Etymology

Origin of curbstone

First recorded in 1785–95; curb + stone

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:

curbstone

To ensure truly, appallingly dull blades, we ground their edges repeatedly against a piece of concrete curbstone.

From Slate ● Oct. 11, 2018

In our tests, the Chef’sChoice ProntoPro 4643 took seriously dull blades—we ran them against a chunk of concrete curbstone until they were all but useless—to tomato-filleting sharpness in less than a minute.

From Slate ● Oct. 11, 2018

A great deal of his spare time is still devoted to his curbstone clinic, still without fee.

From Time Magazine Archive

One of them, studying lightning flashes by reclining on a Los Angeles curbstone in a pouring rain, was rushed to headquarters by suspicious police.

From Time Magazine Archive

The Goober sat on the curbstone, his legs jackknifed, his feet in the gutter.

From "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023