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
The cynical theatrical population dared the visitors to rearrange its smooth marcel into a prickly pompadour.
From Time Magazine Archive
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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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On these occasions Aunt Sophy, in black satin, and marcel wave, and her most relentless corsets was, in all the superficial things, not a pleat, or fold, or line, or wave behind her city colleagues.
From Half Portions by Ferber, Edna
What good is Tolstoy or Marcel Proust to her?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
Mexico lost starting goalkeeper Luis Malagón and midfielder Marcel Ruiz, who didn’t recover from injuries in time to play in the World Cup.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 7, 2026
That underlines Japan’s push to seek alternative energy sources since the conflict shuttered the Strait of Hormuz, Capital Economics economist Marcel Thieliant.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026
"The loss of industrial jobs in Germany has accelerated in the past two years," Marcel Fratzscher, president of the DIW economic institute told AFP.
From Barron's ● May 17, 2026
“I can’t believe David Marcel saw that picture.”
From "Goodbye Stranger" by Rebecca Stead
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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
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
She has a string of imitators, most prominently Katy Perry, who has unabashedly appropriated Ms. Von Teese’s femme fatale persona, down to her loosely marcelled waves and winged eyeliner.
From New York Times ● Nov. 24, 2012
Some of the whispers: Willkie spends an hour every week having his hair marcelled.
From Time Magazine Archive
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But with the bun tucked under, the waves, and a side part, the style resembled a marcelled bob.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
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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.