cure

[ kyoor ]
See synonyms for cure on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a means of healing or restoring to health; remedy.

  2. a method or course of remedial treatment, as for disease.

  1. successful remedial treatment; restoration to health.

  2. a means of correcting or relieving anything that is troublesome or detrimental: The administration is seeking a cure for inflation.

  3. the act or a method of preserving meat, fish, etc., by smoking, salting, or the like.

  4. spiritual or religious charge of the people in a certain district.

  5. the office or district of a curate or parish priest.

verb (used with object),cured, cur·ing.
  1. to restore to health.

  2. to relieve or rid of something detrimental, such as an illness or a bad habit.

  1. to correct (a document, especially a mail-in ballot) in order to make it valid: If the voter’s signature is missing, the county board sends them a certification form allowing the voter to cure the ballot so it can be counted.

  2. to prepare (meat, fish, etc.) for preservation by salting, drying, etc.

  3. to promote hardening of (fresh concrete or mortar), as by keeping it damp.

  4. to process (rubber, tobacco, etc.) as by fermentation or aging.

verb (used without object),cured, cur·ing.
  1. to effect a cure.

  2. to become cured.

Origin of cure

1
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, Old French noun cure, from Latin cūra “care”; verb derivative of the noun

synonym study For cure

9. Cure, heal, remedy imply making well, whole, or right. Cure is applied to the eradication of disease or sickness: to cure a headache. Heal suggests the making whole of wounds, sores, etc.: to heal a burn. Remedy applies especially to making wrongs right: to remedy a mistake.

Other words for cure

Other words from cure

  • cure·less, adjective
  • cure·less·ly, adverb
  • cur·er, noun
  • half-cured, adjective
  • o·ver·cured, adjective
  • sem·i·cured, adjective
  • un·cured, adjective
  • well-cured, adjective

Other definitions for curé (2 of 2)

curé
[ kyoo-rey, kyoor-ey; French ky-rey ]

noun,plural cu·rés [kyoo-reyz, kyoor-eyz; French ky-rey]. /kyʊˈreɪz, ˈkyʊər eɪz; French küˈreɪ/.
  1. (in France) a parish priest.

Origin of curé

2
1645–55; <French, Old French; modeled on Medieval Latin cūrātus parish priest; see curate

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use cure in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for cure (1 of 2)

cure

/ (kjʊə) /


verb
  1. (tr) to get rid of (an ailment, fault, or problem); heal

  2. (tr) to restore to health or good condition

  1. (intr) to bring about a cure

  2. (tr) to preserve (meat, fish, etc) by salting, smoking, etc

  3. (tr)

    • to treat or finish (a substance) by chemical or physical means

    • to vulcanize (rubber)

    • to allow (a polymer) to set often using heat or pressure

  4. (tr) to assist the hardening of (concrete, mortar, etc) by keeping it moist

noun
  1. a return to health, esp after specific treatment

  2. any course of medical therapy, esp one proved effective in combating a disease

  1. a means of restoring health or improving a condition, situation, etc

  2. the spiritual and pastoral charge of a parish: the cure of souls

  3. a process or method of preserving meat, fish, etc, by salting, pickling, or smoking

Origin of cure

1
(n) C13: from Old French, from Latin cūra care; in ecclesiastical sense, from Medieval Latin cūra spiritual charge; (vb) C14: from Old French curer, from Latin cūrāre to attend to, heal, from cūra care

Derived forms of cure

  • cureless, adjective
  • curer, noun

British Dictionary definitions for curé (2 of 2)

curé

/ (ˈkjʊəreɪ) /


noun
  1. a parish priest in France

Origin of curé

2
French, from Medieval Latin cūrātus; see curate 1

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with cure

cure

see kill or cure; ounce of prevention (is worth a pound of cure); sure cure.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.