cure

¹

[ kyoor ]

noun

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.

verb (used with object)

, cured, cur·ing.

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)

, cured, cur·ing.

1. to effect a cure.
2. to become cured.

curé

²

[ kyoo-rey, kyoor-ey; French ky-rey ]

noun

, plural cu·rés [ky, oo, -, reyz, kyoor, -eyz, k, y, -, rey].

1. (in France) a parish priest.

curé

¹

/ ˈkjʊəreɪ /

noun

1. a parish priest in France

cure

²

/ 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

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

Derived Forms

• ˈcurer, noun
• ˈcureless, adjective

Other Words From

• cure·less adjective
• cure·less·ly adverb
• cur·er noun
• half-cured adjective
• o·ver·cured adjective
• sem·i·cured adjective
• un·cured adjective
• well-cured adjective

Word History and Origins

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 cure²

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of cure¹

French, from Medieval Latin cūrātus; see curate ¹

Origin of cure²

(n) C13: from Old French, from Latin cūra care; in ecclesiastical sense, from Medieval Latin cūra spiritual charge; (vb) C14: from Old French curer, from Latin cūrāre to attend to, heal, from cūra care

Idioms and Phrases

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

Synonym Study

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.

Example Sentences

An MSNBC producer quit her job in the middle of a pandemic last month, calling the cable news industry “a cancer” without a cure.

From Ozy

For example, if you have cancer, God forbid, if there is a cure, you would pay a lot for that cure.

From Freakonomics

From its research, AGT believes a cure is attainable and is now taking the significant step of testing in humans.

From Washington Blade

An approach for developing cures for genetic diseases is gene editing, a technique that makes changes directly to DNA.

From Science News

Each specialist has a unique set of skills—medic, scientist, researcher—and gameplay involves splitting time between treating infections and gathering the resources you need to invent a cure.

From Popular-Science

In 2007 he said he had discovered a cure for AIDS using natural herbs.

From The Daily Beast

For Randy, a 50-year-old ex-Mormon gay man, this cure was a particularly bitter pill to swallow.

From The Daily Beast

The transfusions are not a cure, but are a second line of defense for the body.

From The Daily Beast

Regrow limbs, cure cancer, or rock a killer outfit à la Milla Jovovich in The Fifth Element.

From The Daily Beast

The doctors seeking a longevity cure for humans should study The Simpsons, and it continues to be this big, international hit.

From The Daily Beast

The man with the automobile, the corn-cure, and the baby grew to be legendary in the villages of Provence.

From Project Gutenberg

Her stern was towards him, and all he saw of her was the ironical legend, “Cure your Corns.”

From Project Gutenberg

If she have a tongue that can cure, and likewise mitigate and shew mercy: her husband is not like other men.

From Project Gutenberg

Its roots are good to cure Alila when he is seized by an attack of fever during the wet season.

From Project Gutenberg

The best cure is to try to have those virtues which you would affect, and then they will appear naturally.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• minister