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8 dictionary results for: curl
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
curl       [kurl] Pronunciation Key
–verb (used with object)
1.to form into coils or ringlets, as the hair.
2.to form into a spiral or curved shape; coil.
3.to adorn with, or as with, curls or ringlets.
–verb (used without object)
4.to grow in or form curls or ringlets, as the hair.
5.to become curved or undulated.
6.to coil.
7.to play at the game of curling.
8.to progress in a curving direction or path; move in a curving or spiraling way: The ball curled toward the plate.
–noun
9.a coil or ringlet of hair.
10.anything of a spiral or curved shape, as a lettuce leaf, wood shaving, etc.
11.a coil.
12.the act of curling or state of being curled.
13.Plant Pathology.
a.the distortion, fluting, or puffing of a leaf, resulting from the unequal development of its two sides.
b.a disease so characterized.
14.Also called rotation. Mathematics.
a.a vector obtained from a given vector by taking its cross product with the vector whose coordinates are the partial derivative operators with respect to each coordinate.
b.the operation that produces this vector.
15.Weightlifting.
a.an underhand forearm lift in which the barbell, held against the thighs, is raised to the chest and then lowered while keeping the legs, upper arms, and shoulders taut.
b.a similar forearm lift using a dumbbell or dumbbells, usually from the side of the body to the shoulders.
—Verb phrase
16.curl up, to sit or lie down cozily: to curl up with a good book.
—Idioms
17.curl one's lip, to assume or display an expression of contempt: He curled his lip in disdain.
18.curl one's or the hair, to fill with horror or fright; shock: Some of his stories about sailing across the Atlantic are enough to curl one's hair.
[Origin: 1400–50; late ME, appar. back formation from curled, metathetic var. of ME crulled (ptp.) crul (adj.); cf. MD crullen to curl, cruller]

—Related forms
curl·ed·ly       [kur-lid-lee, kurld-] Pronunciation Key, adverb
curl·ed·ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
curl       (kûrl)  Pronunciation Key 
v.   curled, curl·ing, curls

v.   tr.
  1. To twist (the hair, for example) into ringlets or coils.
  2. To form into a coiled or spiral shape: curled the ends of the ribbon.
  3. To decorate with coiled or spiral shapes.
  4. To raise and turn under (the upper lip), as in snarling or showing scorn.
  5. Sports To lift (a weight) by performing a curl.

v.   intr.
  1. To form ringlets or coils.
  2. To assume a spiral or curved shape.
  3. To move in a curve or spiral: The wave curled over the surfer.
  4. Sports To engage in curling.

n.  
  1. Something with a spiral or coiled shape.
  2. A coil or ringlet of hair.
  3. A treatment in which the hair is curled.
    1. The act of curling: the curl of a meandering river.
    2. The state of being curled.
  5. Sports A weightlifting exercise using one or two hands, in which a weight held at the thigh or to the side of the body is raised to the chest or shoulder and then lowered without moving the upper arms, shoulders, or back.
  6. Any of various plant diseases in which the leaves roll up.

Phrasal Verb(s):
curl up
To assume a position with the legs drawn up: The child curled up in an armchair to read.

[Middle English crullen, curlen, from crulle, curly, perhaps of Middle Low German origin.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Curl       (kûrl)  Pronunciation Key 
American chemist who shared a 1996 Nobel Prize for discovering fullerenes.

(Download Now or Buy the Book)
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
curl 
1447, metathesis of crulle (c.1300), probably from O.E. or from M.Du. krul "curly," from P.Gmc. *krusl-. The game of curling is from 1620; curlicue is from 1844, perhaps from the letter Q.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
curl

noun
1. a round shape formed by a series of concentric circles (as formed by leaves or flower petals) [syn: coil] 
2. American chemist who with Richard Smalley and Harold Kroto discovered fullerenes and opened a new branch of chemistry (born in 1933) 
3. a strand or cluster of hair [syn: lock] 

verb
1. form a curl, curve, or kink; "the cigar smoke curled up at the ceiling" 
2. shape one's body into a curl; "She curled farther down under the covers"; "She fell and drew in" [syn: curl up] 
3. wind around something in coils or loops [syn: coil] [ant: uncoil] 
4. twist or roll into coils or ringlets; "curl my hair, please" 
5. play the Scottish game of curling 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Curl

Curl\ (k[^u]rl), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Curled (k[^u]rld); p. pr. & vb. n. Curling.] [Akin to D. krullen, Dan. kr["o]lle, dial. Sw. krulla to curl, crisp; possibly akin to E. crook. Cf. Curl, n., Cruller.]

1. To twist or form into ringlets; to crisp, as the hair.

But curl their locks with bodkins and with braid. --Cascoigne.

2. To twist or make onto coils, as a serpent's body.

Of his tortuous train, Curled many a wanton wreath in sight of Eve. --Milton.

3. To deck with, or as with, curls; to ornament.

Thicker than the snaky locks That curledMeg[ae]ra. --Milton.

Curling with metaphors a plain intention. --Herbert.

4. To raise in waves or undulations; to ripple.

Seas would be pools without the brushing air To curl the waves. --Dryden.

5. (Hat Making) To shape (the brim) into a curve.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Curl

Curl\, v. i. 1. To contract or bend into curls or ringlets, as hair; to grow in curls or spirals, as a vine; to be crinkled or contorted; to have a curly appearance; as, leaves lie curled on the ground.

Thou seest it [hair] will not curl by nature. --Shak.

2. To move in curves, spirals, or undulations; to contract in curving outlines; to bend in a curved form; to make a curl or curls. "Cirling billows." --Dryden.

Then round her slender waist he curled. --Dryden.

Curling smokes from village tops are seen. --Pope.

Gayly curl the waves before each dashing prow. --Byron.

He smiled a king of sickly smile, and curled up on the floor. --Bret Harte.

3. To play at the game called curling. [Scot.]

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Curl

Curl\ (k[^u]rl), n. [Akin to D. krul, Dan. kr["o]lle. See Curl, v. ]

1. A ringlet, especially of hair; anything of a spiral or winding form.

Under a coronet, his flowing hair In curls on either cheek played. --Milton.

2. An undulating or waving line or streak in any substance, as wood, glass, etc.; flexure; sinuosity.

If the glass of the prisms . . . be without those numberless waves or curls which usually arise from the sand holes. --Sir I. Newton.

3. A disease in potatoes, in which the leaves, at their first appearance, seem curled and shrunken.

Blue curls. (Bot.) See under Blue.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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