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.
any dish flavored with curry powder or the like.
a lamb curry.
John (Anthony), 1949–94, British figure skater.
John Steuart 1897–1946, U.S. painter.
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
curry seasoning or sauce
slang to assault (a person) verbally or physically
to beat vigorously, as in order to clean
to dress and finish (leather) after it has been tanned to make it strong, flexible, and waterproof
to groom (a horse)
to ingratiate oneself, esp with superiors
First recorded in 1590–1600, from Tamil kaṟi “sauce, relish”
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
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."
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The crab curry is so delicious and they do these street food sausages that we crave.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2026
As the name suggests, steak is the main event, with options ranging from dry-aged ribeyes and picanha to A5 Wagyu New York strip, plus add-ons like roasted bone marrow and curry béarnaise.
From Salon ● Jun. 11, 2026
Take a stroll along the high street in Broughty Ferry and you are spoiled for choice when it comes to cafes, clothes shops and curry houses.
From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026
They may even want to emulate the boss to curry favor.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026
Everything tasted amazing except for the potato salad, which had competing flavors of curry and celery.
From "We Are the Ants" by Shaun David Hutchinson
Would James return home to Cleveland, return to Miami, possibly join pals Stephen Curry and Draymond Green at Golden State?
From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026
Perhaps the same will be true with “Obsession”; Curry Barker’s copycats will try and fail to interpret the trials of dating when personality is a facade, and I’ll be left eating crow.
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026
“It was during those weeks that the rumblings of ‘Obsession’ began, and Curry got it greenlit.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
It said it planned to reach out to influential people as part of its effort, and named actor Chris Pratt and basketball star Stephen Curry as two examples of ideal celebrity spokespeople.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
He’d cried all the way down Curry Lane.
From Full of Beans by Jennifer L. Holm
"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
Growing up, my mother would make a simple salad of sliced cucumbers, tomatoes, red onions, and lemons, drizzled with salt, served alongside homemade curries, spiced rice and steamed fish fillets wrapped in banana leaf parcels.
From Salon ● Feb. 7, 2026
For the first time, the targets also included 24 out-of-home food categories such as burgers, curries, and pizza.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 31, 2026
Festive meals often include rich curries, savoury snacks, and special breads.
From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2025
A tali was brought out piled with boiled ducks’ eggs, crisply fried pooris, dal, rice, curries, chapatis, mango chutney, and many kinds of sweets.
From "Homeless Bird" by Gloria Whelan
"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
He curried favor in Abu Dhabi by backing a local tech incubator and building personal ties to the royals via a circle of well-connected friends on the city’s luxurious Saadiyat island.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2025
Once identified among the intelligentsia as a “reformicon” hoping to shift a neoconservative GOP toward a pro-working-class direction, Salam had long curried liberal affection as “literary Brooklyn’s favorite conservative.”
From Slate ● Sep. 25, 2024
“We can’t get Caribbean food this good where we live,” said Richard Harris, a regular seated before a tray of curried mutton.
From New York Times ● Jan. 13, 2024
Somebody always put the saddle on and took it off, and somebody else had always curried the animals for her.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
And I’d say that currying the favor of 84% is still pretty darn good.
From Salon ● Mar. 27, 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
At the temple, Prapakaran, the software engineer, walked 11 circles around the inner sanctum, part of the ritual for currying favor with the Visa God.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 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
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
