Curry Cur"ry transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Curried (-r?d); present participle & verbal noun Currying .] [ Middle English curraien , curreien , Old French cunreer , correier , to prepare, arrange, furnish, curry (a horse), French corroyer to curry (leather) (cf. Old French conrei , conroi , order, arrangement, Late Latin conredium ); cor- (L. com- ) + roi , rei , arrangement, order; probably of German origin, and akin to English ready . See Ready , Greith , and confer Corody , Array .] 1. To dress or prepare for use by a process of scraping, cleansing, beating, smoothing, and coloring; -- said of leather. 2. To dress the hair or coat of (a horse, ox, or the like) with a currycomb and brush; to comb, as a horse, in order to make clean.

Your short horse is soon curried .
Beau. & FL.

3. To beat or bruise; to drub; -- said of persons.

I have seen him curry a fellow's carcass handsomely.
Beau. & FL.

To curry favor , to seek to gain favor by flattery or attentions. See Favor , noun

Curry Cur"ry noun [ Tamil kari .] [ Written also currie .] 1. (Cookery) A kind of sauce much used in India, containing garlic, pepper, ginger, and other strong spices. 2. A stew of fowl, fish, or game, cooked with curry. Curry powder (Cookery) , a condiment used for making curry, formed of various materials, including strong spices, as pepper, ginger, garlic, coriander seed, etc.

Curry Cur"ry transitive verb To flavor or cook with curry.

Currycomb Cur"ry·comb` noun A kind of card or comb having rows of metallic teeth or serrated ridges, used in currying a horse.

Currycomb Cur"ry·comb` transitive verb To comb with a currycomb.

Curse Curse transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Cursed (k?rst) or Curst ; present participle & verbal noun Cursing .] [ Anglo-Saxon cursian , corsian , perhaps of Scand. origin; confer Danish korse to make the sign of the cross, Swedish korsa , from Dan. & Swedish kors cross, Icel kross , all these Scand. words coming from Old French crois , croiz , from Latin crux cross. Confer Cross .] 1. To call upon divine or supernatural power to send injury upon; to imprecate evil upon; to execrate.

Thou shalt not . . . curse the ruler of thy people.
Ex. xxii. 28.

Ere sunset I'll make thee curse the deed.
Shak.

2. To bring great evil upon; to be the cause of serious harm or unhappiness to; to furnish with that which will be a cause of deep trouble; to afflict or injure grievously; to harass or torment.

On impious realms and barbarous kings impose
Thy plagues, and curse 'em with such sons as those.
Pope.

To curse by bell, book, and candle . See under Bell .

Curse Curse intransitive verb To utter imprecations or curses; to affirm or deny with imprecations; to swear.

Then began he to curse and to swear.
Matt. xxi. 74.

His spirits hear me,
And yet I need must curse .
Shak.

Curse Curse noun [ Anglo-Saxon curs . See Curse , transitive verb ] 1. An invocation of, or prayer for, harm or injury; malediction.

Lady, you know no rules of charity,
Which renders good for bad, blessings for curses .
Shak.

2. Evil pronounced or invoked upon another, solemnly, or in passion; subjection to, or sentence of, divine condemnation.

The priest shall write these curses in a book.
Num. v. 23.

Curses , like chickens, come home to roost.
Old Proverb.

3. The cause of great harm, evil, or misfortune; that which brings evil or severe affliction; torment.

The common curse of mankind, folly and ignorance.
Shak.

All that I eat, or drink, or shall beget,
Is propagated curse .
Milton.

The curse of Scotland (Card Playing) , the nine of diamonds. -- Not worth a curse . See under Cress . Syn. -- Malediction; imprecation; execration. See Malediction .

Cursed Curs"ed adjective Deserving a curse; execrable; hateful; detestable; abominable.

Let us fly this cursed place.
Milton.

This cursed quarrel be no more renewed.
Dryden.

Cursedly Curs"ed·ly adverb In a cursed manner; miserably; in a manner to be detested; enormously. [ Low]

Cursedness Curs"ed·ness noun 1. The state of being under a curse or of being doomed to execration or to evil. 2. Wickedness; sin; cursing. Chaucer. 3. Shrewishness. "My wife's cursedness ." Chaucer.

Curser Curs"er noun One who curses.

Curship Cur"ship noun [ Cur + -ship .] The state of being a cur; one who is currish. [ Jocose]

How durst he, I say, oppose thy curship !
Hudibras.

Cursitating Cur"si·ta`ting adjective [ See Cursitor .] Moving about slightly. [ R.] H. Bushnell.

Cursitor Cur"si·tor noun [ Late Latin cursitor , equiv. to Latin cursor , from cursare to run hither and thither, from currere to run. See Current , and confer Cursor .] 1. A courier or runner. [ Obsolete] " Cursitors to and fro." Holland. 2. (Eng.Law) An officer in the Court of Chancery, whose business is to make out original writs.

Cursive Cur"sive adjective [ Late Latin cursivus : confer French cursif See Cursitor .] Running; flowing. Cursive hand , a running handwriting.

Cursive Cur"sive noun 1. A character used in cursive writing. 2. A manuscript, especially of the New Testament, written in small, connected characters or in a running hand; -- opposed to uncial . Shipley.

Cursor Cur"sor noun [ Latin , a runner. See Cursitor .] Any part of a mathematical instrument that moves or slides backward and forward upon another part.

Cursorary Cur"so·ra·ry adjective Cursory; hasty. [ Obsolete]

With a cursorary eye o'erglanced the articles.
Shak.

Cursores Cur·so"res noun plural [ Latin cursor , plural cursores , a runner.] (Zoology) (a) An order of running birds including the ostrich, emu, and allies; the Ratitaæ. (b) A group of running spiders; the wolf spiders.

Cursorial Cur·so"ri·al adjective (Zoology) (a) Adapted to running or walking, and not to prehension; as, the limbs of the horse are cursorial . See Illust. of Aves . (b) Of or pertaining to the Cursores .

Cursorily Cur"so·ri·ly adverb In a running or hasty manner; carelessly.

Cursoriness Cur"so·ri·ness noun The quality of being cursory; superficial performance; as, cursoriness of view.

Cursory Cur"so·ry adjective [ Latin cursorius , from cursor . See Cursor .] 1. Running about; not stationary. [ Obsolete] 2. Characterized by haste; hastily or superficially performed; slight; superficial; careless.

Events far too important to be treated in a cursory manner.
Hallam.

Curst Curst (k?rst), imperfect & past participle of Curse .

Curst Curst adjective [ See Curse .] Froward; malignant; mischievous; malicious; snarling. [ Obsolete]

Though his mind
Be ne'er so curst , his tonque is kind.
Crashaw.

Curstfully Curst"ful·ly (-ful*lȳ) adverb Peevishly; vexatiously; detestably. [ Obsolete] " Curstfully mad." Marston.

Curstness Curst"ness (kûrst"nĕs) noun Peevishness; malignity; frowardness; crabbedness; surliness. [ Obsolete] Shak.

Curt Curt (kŭrt) adjective [ Latin curtus ; confer Sanskrit kart to cut. Confer Curtail .] Characterized by excessive brevity; short; rudely concise; as, curt limits; a curt answer.

The curt , yet comprehensive reply.
W. Irving.

Curtail Cur·tail" (kŭr*tāl") transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Curtailed (- tāld"); present participle & verbal noun Curtailing .] [ See Curtal .] To cut off the end or tail, or any part, of; to shorten; to abridge; to diminish; to reduce.

I, that am curtailed of this fair proportion.
Shak.

Our incomes have been curtailed ; his salary has been doubled.
Macaulay.

Curtail Cur"tail noun The scroll termination of any architectural member, as of a step, etc.

Curtail dog Cur"tail dog` (dŏg`; 115). A dog with a docked tail; formerly, the dog of a person not qualified to course, which, by the forest laws, must have its tail cut short, partly as a mark, and partly from a notion that the tail is necessary to a dog in running; hence, a dog not fit for sporting.

Hope is a curtail dog in some affairs.
Shak.

Curtailer Cur·tail"er (kŭr*tāl"ẽr) noun One who curtails.

Curtailment Cur·tail"ment noun The act or result of curtailing or cutting off. Bancroft.

Curtain Cur"tain noun [ Middle English cortin , curtin ,fr. Old French cortine , curtine , French courtine , Late Latin cortina , curtian (in senses 1 and 2), also, small court, small inclosure surrounded by walls, from cortis court. See Court .] 1. A hanging screen intended to darken or conceal, and admitting of being drawn back or up, and reclosed at pleasure; esp., drapery of cloth or lace hanging round a bed or at a window; in theaters, and like places, a movable screen for concealing the stage. 2. (Fort.) That part of the rampart and parapet which is between two bastions or two gates. See Illustrations of Ravelin and Bastion . 3. (Architecture) That part of a wall of a building which is between two pavilions, towers, etc. 4. A flag; an ensign; -- in contempt. [ Obsolete] Shak. Behind the curtain , in concealment; in secret. -- Curtain lecture , a querulous lecture given by a wife to her husband within the bed curtains, or in bed. Jerrold.

A curtain lecture is worth all the sermons in the world for teaching the virtues of patience and long- suffering.
W. Irving.

-- The curtain falls , the performance closes. -- The curtain rises , the performance begins. -- To draw the curtain , to close it over an object, or to remove it ; hence: (a) To hide or to disclose an object. (b) To commence or close a performance. -- To drop the curtain , to end the tale, or close the performance.

Curtain Cur"tain transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Curtained (-t?nd; 48); present participle & verbal noun Curtaining .] To inclose as with curtains; to furnish with curtains.

So when the sun in bed
Curtained with cloudy red.
Milton.

Curtal Cur"tal adjective [ Old French courtault , French courtaud , having a docked tail (cf. Italian cortaldo ), from court short, Latin curtus . See Curt , and Curtail .] Curt; brief; laconic.

Essays and curtal aphorisms.
Milton.

Curtal dog . See Curtail dog .

Curtal Cur"tal noun A horse with a docked tail; hence, anything cut short. [ Obs] Nares.

Curtal ax Cur"tal ax` (?ks`), Cur"tle ax` Curte"lasse (k?rt"l as ) . A corruption of Cutlass .

Curtal friar Cur"tal fri`ar (fr?`?r). A friar who acted as porter at the gate of a monastery. Sir W. Scott.

Curtana Cur·ta"na noun The pointless sword carried before English monarchs at their coronation, and emblematically considered as the sword of mercy; -- also called the sword of Edward the Confessor .

Curtate Cur"tate adjective [ Latin curtatus , past participle of curtare to shorten, from curtus . See Curt .] (Astron.) Shortened or reduced; -- said of the distance of a planet from the sun or earth, as measured in the plane of the ecliptic, or the distance from the sun or earth to that point where a perpendicular, let fall from the planet upon the plane of the ecliptic, meets the ecliptic. Curtate cycloid . (Math.) See Cycloid .

Curtation Cur·ta"tion noun (Astron.) The interval by which the curtate distance of a planet is less than the true distance.

Curtein Cur·tein" noun Same as Curtana .

Curtes Cur·tes" adjective Courteous. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Curtesy Cur"te·sy noun ; plural Curtesies (-s...z). [ Either from courlesy , the lands being held as it were by favor; or from court (LL. curtis ), the husband being regarded as holding the lands as a vassal of the court. See Court , Courtesy .] (Law) the life estate which a husband has in the lands of his deceased wife, which by the common law takes effect where he has had issue by her, born alive, and capable of inheriting the lands. Mozley & W.

Curtilage Cur"ti·lage (k...r"t...-l...j) noun [ Old French cortillage , curtillage , from cortil court, courtyard, Late Latin cortis court. See Court .] (Law) A yard, courtyard, or piece of ground, included within the fence surrounding a dwelling house. Burrill.

Curtly Curt"ly (kûrt"lȳ) adverb In a curt manner.

Curtness Curt"ness noun The quality of bing curt.

Curtsy Curt"sy (kûrt"sȳ) noun Same as Courtesy , an act of respect.