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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

Blanche has taken steps to curry Murkowski’s favor in recent months, visiting Alaska and announcing a $400-million settlement benefiting Alaska natives’ healthcare in July.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

Later, merchants and government officials sponsored larger and more elaborately decorated caves to curry karmic favor on their journeys, as well as to promote their particular religious and aesthetic visions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

The crab curry is so delicious and they do these street food sausages that we crave.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2026

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

“I’d rather be anywhere than at home, putting curry in plastic boxes for customers. Mama is cooking up a literal storm this week, much of it Thanksgiving-related.”

From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan

The official cause of death for Tim Curry, the beloved actor known for roles in ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show’ and ‘It,’ has been revealed.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026

“Obsession,” the indie horror movie written and directed by Curry Barker, has proved to be one of this year’s most successful films.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026

Born in the north-western English town of Warrington in 1946, Curry landed his first acting job after university, appearing in the 1968 London production of the rock musical Hair.

From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026

"Even wheelchair bound, he continued to be so sweet and generous with his fans," wrote his Rocky Horror co-star Susan Sarandon, who described Curry as a "funny, sexy, original".

From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026

“That’s why you married a Curry boy,” he said.

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

Tomato already knows butter from ghee-rich curries, grilled cheese dipped in tomato soup and Marcella Hazan’s famously spare sauce.

From Salon ● Aug. 1, 2026

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026

"You will see fast food, Indian breads and curries, desserts, and whatever else people have been sending," said Kaanita, a 21-year-old student.

From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 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

"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

But after indulging in a few spoonfuls, my palate begged to differ, craving more in between bites of curried rice and meat.

From Salon ● Mar. 28, 2026

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

From Slate ● Oct. 11, 2024

I glanced hurriedly through it, curried prawns, roast veal, asparagus, cold chocolate mousse—was this lunch or dinner, I could not see, lunch I suppose.

From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier

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

He turned from currying one of the horses and looked at her inquisitively.

From "Ash" by Malinda Lo

Related Words

• sauce
• seasoning