marcel
1 Americanverb (used with object)
noun
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a marcelling.
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a marcelled condition.
noun
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Gabriel 1887–1973, French philosopher, dramatist, and critic.
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a male given name.
noun
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of marcel
First recorded in 1890–95; named after Marcel Grateau (1852–1936), French hairdresser who originated it
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The Harlem in “The Back Room” is a site for “fine gowns and tuxedos, marcel waves and glitter.”
From Washington Times ● Jan. 15, 2020
My aunties would come to town from Chicago and get the marcel iron out,” she said.
From New York Times ● Sep. 14, 2018
Lily, his wife, unwilling to muss her new marcel wave before he saw it, waited, and kept ready a hot cup of tea.
From Time Magazine Archive
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The cynical theatrical population dared the visitors to rearrange its smooth marcel into a prickly pompadour.
From Time Magazine Archive
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I'd a let her had it, all right, all right, the outside of the bottle right on the marcel.
From The Sorrows of a Show Girl by Kenneth McGaffey
Its president Marcel Fratzscher predicted a "shock" that would batter growth and paradoxically hit the hardest in regions with the strongest AfD support.
From Barron's ● Sep. 1, 2026
“After bravely facing a brief battle with cancer, Dolly departed her Earthly life today at the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center surrounded by loved ones,” her publicist, Marcel Pariseau, said in a statement Tuesday.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 28, 2026
"Our results show that how soil is managed can significantly affect both soil life and soil quality," says co-study leader Marcel van der Heijden, UZH professor of agroecology.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 28, 2026
In addition to co-writing the play with Marshall Pailet, Slater portrayed mime artist Marcel Marceau.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2026
“Father Marcel, my twin sister, Olanna,” Kainene said.
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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Were the Roaring Twenties a time of release, as they’re often depicted in pop culture — all those glittery dresses and tiaras and marcelled hair!
From New York Times ● Sep. 6, 2021
Ms. Jackson, in a lilac dressing gown and a marcelled silver wig, digs deep into that contradiction, producing huge laughs from the grim idea that awfulness is a damn good habit as death hovers.
From New York Times ● Mar. 29, 2018
Her previously loose and tawny hair is now marcelled and peroxide blond; her glittering but shapeless black gown projects the expensive glamour of a society matron.
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 14, 2017
Last week, having announced a modern McPherson crusade, the strapping, marcelled evangelist chartered the 19,000-ton Republic of the U. S. Lines.
From Time Magazine Archive
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She had a thick, straight-up, corseted figure and gray hair that had been marcelled into such stiff, even waves I wondered if she dared put her head down on a pillow at night.
From "Homesick" by Jean Fritz
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Last week Jonah Uden was pronounced capable of waving, marcelling, bobbing, shingling and shampooing.
From Time Magazine Archive
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Like women sitting for two hours under the marcelling irons only to wonder two days later how soon they would need another appointment.
From "Sula" by Toni Morrison
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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.