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curl

[kurl]

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR curl ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to form into coils or ringlets, as the hair.

to form into a spiral or curved shape; coil.

to adorn with, or as with, curls or ringlets.

verb (used without object)

to grow in or form curls or ringlets, as the hair.

to become curved or undulated.

to coil.

to play at the game of curling.

to progress in a curving direction or path; move in a curving or spiraling way: The ball curled toward the plate.

noun

a coil or ringlet of hair.

anything of a spiral or curved shape, as a lettuce leaf, wood shaving, etc.

a coil.

the act of curling or state of being curled.

Plant Pathology.

the distortion, fluting, or puffing of a leaf, resulting from the unequal development of its two sides.
a disease so characterized.

Also called rotation. Mathematics.

a vector obtained from a given vector by taking its cross product with the vector whose coordinates are the partial derivative operators with respect to each coordinate.
the operation that produces this vector.

Weightlifting.

an underhand forearm lift in which the barbell, held against the thighs, is raised to the chest and then lowered while keeping the legs, upper arms, and shoulders taut.
a similar forearm lift using a dumbbell or dumbbells, usually from the side of the body to the shoulders.

Verb Phrases

curl up, to sit or lie down cozily: to curl up with a good book.

Idioms

curl one's lip, to assume or display an expression of contempt: He curled his lip in disdain.

curl one's/the hair, to fill with horror or fright; shock: Some of his stories about sailing across the Atlantic are enough to curl one's hair.

Origin of curl

1400–50; late Middle English, apparently back formation from curled, metathetic variant of Middle English crulled (past participle) crul (adj.); compare Middle Dutch crullen to curl, cruller

Related formscurl·ed·ly

[kur-lid-lee, kurld-] /ˈkɜr lɪd li, ˈkɜrld-/, adverbcurl·ed·ness, nounin·ter·curl, verbun·der·curl, nounun·der·curl, verbwell-curled, adjective

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

Related Words for curl

coil, buckle, writhe, curve, contort, twist, fold, twirl, spiral, quirk, kink, wave, whorl, swirl, flourish, crimp, frizz, curlicue, convolute, crook

Examples from the Web for curl

Contemporary Examples of curl

The only surprise was the left collar point, which was allowed to curl.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days
David Freeman
December 13, 2014
Poetry is no longer something we curl up to with a cup of tea.
Americans Have Never Loved Poetry More—But They Call It Rap
John McWhorter
June 29, 2014
Jonathan Coulton's song "Curl," with footage of Stephen Colbert trying out for the 2010 U.S. Curling Team.
Curling: Your New Olympic Addiction, Explained
Brett Singer
February 13, 2014
Or to put it another way, sweeping helps make the stone not curl.
Curling: Your New Olympic Addiction, Explained
Brett Singer
February 13, 2014
The smoke from his cigarette will curl around his head and nothing else near him will move, and you will wonder what he sees.
The Stacks: John Schulian’s Classic Profile of Newspaper Columnist Mike Royko
John Schulian
January 5, 2014

Historical Examples of curl

I see again the curl on the lip of a certain kind of girl-reader!
Weighed and Wanting
George MacDonald
The inner petals are shorter and curve and curl toward the center.
The Mayflower, January, 1905
Various
Her hair was damp and out of curl, as though she had just had a bath.
Nana, The Miller's Daughter, Captain Burle, Death of Olivier Becaille
Emile Zola
She looked at him in amazement; then her lips began to curl.
Keziah Coffin
Joseph C. Lincoln
"No, of course not," said Mrs. Garth, with a curl of the lip.
The Shadow of a Crime
Hall Caine

British Dictionary definitions for curl

curl

verb

(intr) (esp of hair) to grow into curves or ringlets

(tr sometimes foll by up) to twist or roll (something, esp hair) into coils or ringlets

(often foll by up) to become or cause to become spiral-shaped or curved; coilthe heat made the leaves curl up

(intr) to move in a curving or twisting manner

(intr) to play the game of curling

curl one's lip to show contempt, as by raising a corner of the lip

noun

a curve or coil of hair

a curved or spiral shape or mark, as in wood

the act of curling or state of being curled

any of various plant diseases characterized by curling of the leaves

Also called: rot, rotation maths a vector quantity associated with a vector field that is the vector product of the operator ∇ and a vector function A, where ∇ = i ∂/∂ x + j ∂/∂b y + k ∂/∂ z, i, j, and k being unit vectors. Usually written curl A, rot ACompare divergence (def. 4), gradient (def. 4)

See also curl up

Word Origin for curl

C14: probably from Middle Dutch crullen to curl; related to Middle High German krol curly, Middle Low German krūs curly

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 curl

v.

mid-15c., metathesis of crulle (c.1300), probably from an unrecorded Old English word or from Middle Dutch krul "curly," from Proto-Germanic *krusl- (cf. East Frisian krull "lock of hair," Middle High German krol, Norwegian krull, Danish krølle "curl"). The noun is recorded from c.1600.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper