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• cure
  cure

  noun

  a means of healing or restoring to health; remedy.
• curé
  curé

  noun

  (in France) a parish priest.

cure

¹ American  

[kyoor] / kjʊər /

noun

• cures
  plural

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.

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verb (used with object)

• cures,
  present (3rd person singular)
• cured,
  past participle,  past
• curing
  present participle

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)

• cures,
  present (3rd person singular)
• cured,
  past participle,  past
• curing
  present participle

1. to effect a cure.

2. to become cured.

curé ² American  

[kyoo-ray, kyoor-ay, ky-ray] / kjʊˈreɪ, ˈkjʊər eɪ, küˈreɪ /

noun

• curés
  plural

1. (in France) a parish priest.

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cure ¹ British  

/ 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

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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

curé ² British  

/ ˈkjʊəreɪ /

noun

1. a parish priest in France

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cure Idioms  

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

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Synonym Usage

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.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• curer
  noun
• cureless
  adjective
• half-cured
  adjective
• overcured
  adjective
• semicured
  adjective
• uncured
  adjective
• well-cured
  adjective
• curelessly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• cures
  plural
• curés
  plural

Participles

• curing
  present
• cured
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• cure
  simple
• cures
  simple
• have cured
  perfect
• has cured
  perfect
• am curing
  progressive
• are curing
  progressive
• is curing
  progressive
• have been curing
  perfect progressive
• has been curing
  perfect progressive

Past

• cured
  simple
• had cured
  perfect
• was curing
  progressive
• were curing
  progressive
• had been curing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will cure
  simple
• will have cured
  perfect
• will be curing
  progressive
• will have been curing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

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 curé²

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

Explanation

A cure is a treatment that ends an illness or makes you feel better. There is no cure for the common cold, or for a broken heart. Waaaaa. Many researchers focus on finding cures for diseases like cancer and diabetes — while it is possible to recover from incurable illnesses, it's not possible to cure them. You could also say, "This Florida winter is going to cure me of missing Minnesota!" When someone cures meat or fish, they smoke or salt it to preserve it. The Latin root is curare, "take care of."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cure curé cures curés cured curing

Jacinta McCool, whose message of early detection of breast or cervical cancer leads to better cure rates, said it was important to raise that awareness.

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026

Those affected can wait years for diagnosis, and there is no cure - meaning women are left grappling with debilitating pain that can affect their relationships, work, education and mental health.

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026

There is no cure, but there are treatments to help mitigate symptoms.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

A U.S.-based chain of medbed operators called Tesla BioHealing has been flagged by federal regulators for claiming that its “Life Force Energy” treatments can cure stroke paralysis, epilepsy, Alzheimer’s, and terminal cancer.

From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026

Mrs. Kedzie wound up with nothing to manage, as “all business was suspended” by Leah, who pleaded with the spirits to cure Charley “for several days.”

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

Well, one fine day they met in secret, and sent a churchwarden with a complaint to the bishop, and a thunderbolt fell on the poor curé.

From The Cloister and the Hearth A Tale of the Middle Ages by Charles Reade

The man consented as eagerly, and went with Gerard to the curé, and told him he had made a ridiculous mistake, which a sight of the parties had rectified.

From The Cloister and the Hearth A Tale of the Middle Ages by Charles Reade

After the funeral rites Gerard stepped respectfully up to the curé, and offered to buy a mass for their souls.

From The Cloister and the Hearth A Tale of the Middle Ages by Charles Reade

The curé politely but firmly objected to that too.

From The Cloister and the Hearth A Tale of the Middle Ages by Charles Reade

Then the curé guessed where the shoe pinched.

From The Cloister and the Hearth A Tale of the Middle Ages by Charles Reade

Capitalism and pharma are delivering cures that increase life expectancy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

If A.I. companies got into certain commercial models, they could start promoting sponsored results, such as pseudoscientific cures.

From Slate ● Aug. 26, 2026

It’s not a silver bullet that cures polarization, settles complicated policy debates or ensures that everyone gets along.

From Salon ● Aug. 10, 2026

"All she had read online was that it cures cancer."

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

“They wash the guts out carefully, and they hang them up to dry so that the sun cures them.”

From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago

In the case of the French curés, the crucial story was that of Christ’s life and death as told by the Catholic Church.

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari

What an admirable piece of buffoonery! these curés going in turn to shrive the writers of the eighteenth century, and having flung at their heads epigrams composed for the occasion, perhaps, ten years before.

From The International Monthly, Volume 2, No. 4, March, 1851 by Various

While the question was before the Sorbonne, the curés of Paris published various writings, under the name of ‘Facta,’ in support of the conclusions to which they had come. 

From Pascal by Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant

These were country neighbors, curés, and bailiffs of adjacent estates.

From The Vicomte de Bragelonne Or Ten Years Later being the completion of "The Three Musketeers" And "Twenty Years After" by Alexandre Dumas père

Meanwhile, the letters in which Turgot explained his views and wishes to the curés, by them to be imparted to their parishes, are masterpieces of the care, the patience, the interest, of a good ruler.

From Critical Miscellanies (Vol. 2 of 3) Turgot by John Morley

Because the disorder can be treated and, in some cases, potentially cured, detecting it earlier could help reduce the risk of preventable cardiovascular complications.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 14, 2026

Because the donor marrow produced normal red blood cells, her SCD was cured.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026

"When I was sad or lonely, everything would be cured when I drew pictures," she said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026

Parkinson’s disease, according to the Mayo Clinic, is a nervous system movement disorder that worsens with time and cannot be cured.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026

By means of this medicine she was cured of an intermittent fever, and after her return to Spain she aided in the diffusion of the remedy.

From New Word-Analysis by William Swinton

Company executives and U.S. officials said that strict rules could strangle an industry capable of supercharging global growth and curing diseases.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026

“So they don’t need to spend as much on curing illness; they spend a lot more on getting services in place to prevent illness,” he said.

From Salon ● Aug. 11, 2026

The goal is to manage pain and symptoms, rather than curing the illness, in the patient’s final months, weeks or days before death.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026

In 2023, she became a patron of Brain Tumour Research - a charity dedicated to curing the disease.

From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026

He spent the remaining thirteen years of his life curing diseases and battling opponents with his customary stubborn ferocity.

From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy

Related Words

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