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• curry
  curry

  noun

  a pungent dish of vegetables, onions, meat or fish, etc., flavored with various spices or curry powder, and often eaten with rice.
• Curry
  Curry

  noun

  John (Anthony), 1949–94, British figure skater.

curry

¹ American  

[kur-ee, kuhr-ee] / ˈkɜr i, ˈkʌr i /

Sometimes currie

noun

• curries
  plural

1. East Indian Cooking. a pungent dish of vegetables, onions, meat or fish, etc., flavored with various spices or curry powder, and often eaten with rice.

2. any dish flavored with curry powder or the like.

   a lamb curry.

3. curry powder.

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verb (used with object)

curried, currying

1. to cook or flavor (food) with curry powder or a similar combination of spices.

   to curry eggs.

idioms

1. give (someone) a bit of curry, to rebuke, discipline, or criticize; harass.

curry ² American  

[kur-ee, kuhr-ee] / ˈkɜr i, ˈkʌr i /

verb (used with object)

curried, currying

1. to rub and clean (a horse) with a currycomb.

2. to dress (tanned hides) by soaking, scraping, beating, coloring, etc.

3. to beat; thrash.

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idioms

1. curry favor, to seek to advance oneself through flattery or fawning.

   His fellow workers despised him for currying favor with the boss.

Curry ³ American  

[kur-ee, kuhr-ee] / ˈkɜr i, ˈkʌr i /

noun

1. John (Anthony), 1949–94, British figure skater.

2. John Steuart 1897–1946, U.S. painter.

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curry ¹ British  

/ ˈkʌrɪ /

noun

1. a spicy dish of oriental, esp Indian, origin that is made in many ways but usually consists of meat or fish prepared in a hot piquant sauce

2. curry seasoning or sauce

3. slang to assault (a person) verbally or physically

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verb

1. (tr) to prepare (food) with curry powder or sauce

curry ² British  

/ ˈkʌrɪ /

verb

1. to beat vigorously, as in order to clean

2. to dress and finish (leather) after it has been tanned to make it strong, flexible, and waterproof

3. to groom (a horse)

4. to ingratiate oneself, esp with superiors

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Curry ³ British  

/ ˈkʌrɪ /

noun

1. John ( Anthony ). 1949–94, British ice skater: won the figure-skating gold medal in the 1976 Olympic Games

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• curries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of curry¹

First recorded in 1590–1600, from Tamil kaṟi “sauce, relish”

Origin of curry²

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English curreien, curraien, curry, from Anglo-French curreier, Old French corroier, earlier conreer “to make ready,” from Vulgar Latin conrēdāre (unrecorded); see origin at corody

Explanation

Curry is a South Asian-style dish of vegetables or meat in a very flavorful, spicy sauce. You can try many types of curry in an Indian restaurant. There are different curries from different parts of Asia — a Thai curry, for example, might consist of shrimp and vegetables in a rich yellow sauce. When curry is a verb, it can mean "make curry," but it's more commonly "groom a horse." A curry comb, in fact, is specially made for this purpose. This curry comes from the Anglo-French curreier, "to comb a horse," while the dish has a Tamil root, kari, "sauce."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

curry Curry curries curried currying

People in prison confess to crimes, regardless of innocence, for any manner of reasons: because they are coerced, because their memories are unclear, to curry favor, for attention.

From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026

While many curry houses remain, the street and the surrounding neighbourhood is transforming, in part to help power the capital's digital infrastructure boom.

From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026

Dropping tens of thousands of dollars on a watch is a good way to curry favor with sales assistants who allocate Birkins to clients.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026

Thai food greeted Navarrete at the office — red curry, fried rice, drunken noodles.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026

Harry got toast, coconut, baked bean, strawberry, curry, grass, coffee, sardine, and was even brave enough to nibble the end off a funny gray one Ron wouldn’t touch, which turned out to be pepper.

From "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" by J.K. Rowling

He compares getting a call from Sork to being asked for shooting tips from NBA star Stephen Curry.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026

Curry Barker knew he was making a good movie when he directed "Obsession" -- but he never expected it to become a box office phenomenon that would make Hollywood obsessed with him.

From Barron's ● Sep. 13, 2026

In his estimation, doomsday is now more likely than Stephen Curry missing a free throw.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 12, 2026

Curry was also known for his work as the evil clown Pennywise in the miniseries adaptation of Stephen King’s “It,” butler Wadsworth in “Clue” and the Lord of Darkness in “Legend.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026

He’d cried all the way down Curry Lane.

From Full of Beans by Jennifer L. Holm

A treat for anyone who loves a little wordplay: Can you think of an 11-letter phrase that describes some curries or romances?

From Slate ● Aug. 26, 2026

Smoky, charcoal-grilled meats and fragrant wok-cooked tomato curries sizzling over an open flame.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026

Teacher Kieron Fisher, who lives in Newbury, Berkshire, includes vegetables in meals his six-year-old twins Kit and Ollie already enjoy, such as curries and spaghetti Bolognese.

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026

It’s used exclusively in savory dishes, namely curries, due to its robust, smoky flavor.

From Salon ● Jan. 25, 2026

Then we’d all have a huge feast with mutton biryani, dal, curries, poori, paratha, and pakora.

From "The Night Diary" by Veera Hiranandani

Additional favorites include a homemade rotisserie chicken Caesar salad, an avocado and cilantro-forward salad and a curried chicken salad, complete with a mayo-based curry chutney dressing and whole cashews.

From Salon ● Jun. 29, 2026

"For the next week we just had tuna every day, it was a bit like Forrest Gump and the shrimp, we had curried tuna, fried tuna, battered tuna, beer-battered tuna, raw tuna."

From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2026

To push their deal through, the shot-calling Ellisons, Larry and David, have indeed curried favor with Mr. Trump.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026

And Mullenweg’s story curried even more skepticism on Oct.

From Slate ● Oct. 11, 2024

“Garlic soup, curried prawns, avocado salad—if these don’t give you nice dreams, I don’t know what will.”

From "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer

Gianni Infantino has spent years currying favor with President Trump to ensure the smooth running of the tournament.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026

He added, “How can it not be equated with currying favor or an outright bribe? How can that not be the case?”

From Salon ● Jan. 31, 2026

He first fought with the invading Japanese to oust Britain, before swapping sides as the tide of war changed and currying favour with London for the cause of independence.

From Barron's ● Dec. 23, 2025

The perfect venue, the CEO of the Chinese hacking company thought, to hold a Lunar New Year banquet currying favor with government officials.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 7, 2024

Under the constant currying and brushing his coat lay as smooth and gleaming as orange-red lacquer.

From "The Red Pony" by John Steinbeck

Related Words

• sauce
• seasoning