Curule Cu"rule (kū"rul)
adjective [ Latin
curulis , from
currus a chariot: confer French
curule .]
1. Of or pertaining to a chariot. 2. (Rom. Antiq.) Of or pertaining to a kind of chair appropriated to Roman magistrates and dignitaries; pertaining to, having, or conferring, the right to sit in the curule chair; hence, official. » The
curule chair was usually shaped like a camp stool, and provided with curved legs. It was at first ornamented with ivory, and later sometimes made of ivory and inlaid with gold.
Curule dignity right of sitting in the curule chair.
Cururo Cu·ru"ro noun [ Chilian name.]
(Zoology) A Chilian burrowing rodent of the genus Spalacopus .
Curval Cur"val (k?r"v
a l),
Cur"vant (- v
a nt) ,
adjective [ Latin
curvans ,
present participle ]
(Her.) Bowed; bent; curved.
Curvate Cur"vate adjective [ Latin
curvatus past participle of
curvare to curve, from
curvus . See
Curve .]
Bent in a regular form; curved.
Curvation Cur·va"tion noun [ Latin
curvatio .]
The act of bending or crooking.
Curvative Cur"va·tive adjective (Botany) Having the margins only a little curved; -- said of leaves. Henslow.
Curvature Cur"va·ture noun [ Latin
curvatura . See
Curvate .]
1. The act of curving, or the state of being bent or curved; a curving or bending, normal or abnormal, as of a line or surface from a rectilinear direction; a bend; a curve. Cowper. The elegant curvature of their fronds.
Darwin.
2. (Math.) The amount of degree of bending of a mathematical curve, or the tendency at any point to depart from a tangent drawn to the curve at that point. Aberrancy of curvature (Geom.) ,
the deviation of a curve from a circular form. --
Absolute curvature .
See under Absolute . --
Angle of curvature (Geom.) ,
one that expresses the amount of curvature of a curve. --
Chord of curvature .
See under Chord . --
Circle of curvature .
See Osculating circle of a curve , under Circle . --
Curvature of the spine (Medicine) ,
an abnormal curving of the spine, especially in a lateral direction. --
Radius of curvature ,
the radius of the circle of curvature, or osculatory circle, at any point of a curve.
Curve Curve (kûrv)
adjective [ Latin
curvus bent, curved. See
Cirb .]
Bent without angles; crooked; curved; as, a curve line; a curve surface.
Curve Curve noun [ See
Curve ,
adjective ,
Cirb .]
1. A bending without angles; that which is bent; a flexure; as, a curve in a railway or canal. 2. (Geom.) A line described according to some low, and having no finite portion of it a straight line. Axis of a curve .
See under Axis . --
Curve of quickest descent .
See Brachystochrone . --
Curve tracing (Math.) ,
the process of determining the shape, location, singular points, and other peculiarities of a curve from its equation. --
Plane curve (Geom.) ,
a curve such that when a plane passes through three points of the curve, it passes through all the other points of the curve. Any other curve is called a curve of double curvature , or a twisted curve .
Curve Curve transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Curved (k?rvd);
present participle & verbal noun Curving .] [ Latin
curvare ., from
curvus . See
Curve ,
adjective ,
Curb .]
To bend; to crook; as, to curve a line; to curve a pipe; to cause to swerve from a straight course; as, to curve a ball in pitching it.
Curve Curve intransitive verb To bend or turn gradually from a given direction; as, the road curves to the right.
Curvedness Curv"ed·ness noun The state of being curved.
Curvet Cur"vet noun [ Middle English
corvet , Italian
corvetta : confer French
courbette . See
Curve , and confer
Corvetto .]
1. (Man.) A particular leap of a horse, when he raises both his fore legs at once, equally advanced, and, as his fore legs are falling, raises his hind legs, so that all his legs are in the air at once. 2. A prank; a frolic.
Curvet Cur"vet intransitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Curveted or
-vetted ;
present participle & verbal noun Curveting or
-vetting .] [ Confer Italian
corvettare . See
Curvet ,
noun ]
1. To make a curvet; to leap; to bound. "Oft and high he did
curvet ."
Drayton. 2. To leap and frisk; to frolic. Shak.
Curvet Cur"vet transitive verb To cause to curvet. Landor.
Curvicaudate Cur`vi·cau"date adjective [ Latin
curvus bent + English
caudate .]
(Zoology) Having a curved or crooked tail.
Curvicostate Cur`vi·cos"tate adjective [ Latin
curvus + English
costate .]
(Botany) Having bent ribs.
Curvidentate Cur`vi·den"tate adjective [ Latin
curvus + English
dentate .]
Having curved teeth.
Curviform Cur"vi·form adjective [ Latin
curvus + -form .]
Having a curved form.
Curvilinead Cur`vi·lin"e·ad noun (Geom.) An instrument for drawing curved lines.
Curvilineal Cur`vi·lin"e·al adjective [ Latin
curvus bent + English
lineal ,
linear .]
Consisting of, or bounded by, curved lines; as, a curvilinear figure.
Curvilinearity Cur`vi·lin`e·ar"i·ty noun The state of being curvilinear or of being bounded by curved lines.
Curvilinearly Cur`vi·lin"e·ar·ly adverb In a curvilinear manner.
Curvinerved Cur"vi·nerved` adjective [ Latin
curvus bent + English
nerve . ]
(Botany) Having the ribs or the veins of the leaves curved; -- called also curvinervate and curve-veined .
Curvirostral Cur`vi·ros"tral adjective [ Latin
curvus + English
rostral .]
(Zoology) Having a crooked beak, as the crossbill.
Curvirostres Cur"vi·ros"tres noun plural [ New Latin , from Latin
curvus curved +
rostrum beak, rostrum.]
(Zoology) A group of passerine birds, including the creepers and nuthatches.
Curviserial Cur`vi·se"ri·al adjective [ Latin
curvus bent + English
serial .]
(Botany) Distributed in a curved line, as leaves along a stem.
Curvity Cur"vi·ty noun [ Latin
curvitas , from
curvus bent: confer French
curvité .]
The state of being curved; a bending in a regular form; crookedness. Holder.
Curvograph Cur"vo·graph noun [ Latin
curvus bent +
-graph .]
(Geom.) An arcograph.
Cuscus Cus"cus noun [ The same word as
Couscous , from French
couscous couscous, Arabic
kuskus .]
(Botany) A soft grass ( Pennisetum typhoideum ) found in all tropical regions, used as food for men and cattle in Central Africa.
Cuscus oil Cuscus oil Same as Vetiver oil .
Cushat Cush"at noun [ Anglo-Saxon
cusceote .]
(Zoology) The ringdove or wood pigeon. Scarce with cushat's homely song can vie.
Sir W. Scott.
Cushewbird Cush"ew·bird noun (Zoöl) The galeated curassow. See Curassow .
Cushion Cush"ion noun [ Middle English
cuischun ,
quisshen , Old French
coissin ,
cuissin , F.
coussin , from (assumed) Late Latin
culcitinum , dim. of Latin
culcita cushion, mattress, pillow. See
Quilt , and confer
Counterpoint a
coverlet .]
1. A case or bag stuffed with some soft and elastic material, and used to sit or recline upon; a soft pillow or pad. Two cushions stuffed with straw, the seat to raise.
Dryden.
2. Anything resembling a cushion in properties or use ; as:
(a) a pad on which gilders cut gold leaf ;
(b) a mass of steam in the end of the cylinder of a steam engine to receive the impact of the piston ;
(c) the elastic edge of a billiard table. 3. A riotous kind of dance, formerly common at weddings; -- called also cushion dance . Halliwell. Cushion capital .
(Architecture) A capital so sculptured as to appear like a cushion pressed down by the weight of its entablature. (b) A name given to a form of capital, much used in the Romanesque style, modeled like a bowl, the upper part of which is cut away on four sides, leaving vertical faces. --
Cushion star (Zoology) a pentagonal starfish belonging to Goniaster , Astrogonium , and other allied genera; -- so called from its form.
Cushion Cush"ion transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Cushioned (-?nd);
present participle & vb. Cushioning .]
1. To seat or place on, or as on a cushion. Many who are cushioned on thrones would have remained in obscurity.
Bolingbroke.
2. To furnish with cushions; as, to cushion a chaise. 3. To conceal or cover up, as under a cushion. Cushioned hammer ,
a dead-stroke hammer. See under Dead-stroke .
Cushion tire Cushion tire A thick solid-rubber tire, as for a bicycle, with a hollow groove running lengthwise on the inside.
Cushionet Cush"ion·et noun [ Old French
coissinet , French
coussinet . See
Cushion , and confer
Coussinet .]
A little cushion.
Cushionless Cush"ion·less adjective Not furnished with a cushion. Rows of long, cushionless benches, supplying the place of pews.
Hawthorne.
Cushiony Cush"ion·y adjective Like a cushion; soft; pliable. A flat and cushiony nose.
Dickens.
Cushite Cush"ite noun A descendant of Cush, the son of Ham and grandson of Noah.
Cusk Cusk noun (Zoology) A large, edible, marine fish ( Brosmius brosme ), allied to the cod, common on the northern coasts of Europe and America; -- called also tusk and torsk .
Cuskin Cus"kin noun A kind of drinking cup. [ Obsolete]
Cusp Cusp (kŭsp)
noun [ Latin
cuspis ,
-idis , point, pointed end.]
1. (Architecture) A triangular protection from the intrados of an arch, or from an inner curve of tracery. 2. (Astrol.) The beginning or first entrance of any house in the calculations of nativities, etc. 3. (Astron.) The point or horn of the crescent moon or other crescent-shaped luminary. 4. (Math.) A multiple point of a curve at which two or more branches of the curve have a common tangent. 5. (Anat.) A prominence or point, especially on the crown of a tooth. 6. (Botany) A sharp and rigid point.
Cusp Cusp transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Cusped (k?spt);
present participle & verbal noun Cusping .]
To furnish with a cusp or cusps.
Cuspated Cus"pa·ted adjective Ending in a point.
Cuspid Cus"pid noun [ See
Cusp .]
(Anat.) One of the canine teeth; -- so called from having but one point or cusp on the crown. See Tooth .
Cuspidal Cus"pi·dal adjective [ From Latin
cuspis ,
cuspidis . See
Cusp .]
Ending in a point.
Cuspidate Cus"pi·date transitive verb To make pointed or sharp.
Cuspidate Cus"pi·date adjective [ Latin
cuspidatus , past participle of
cuspidare to make pointed, from
cuspis . See
Cusp .]
Having a sharp end, like the point of a spear; terminating in a hard point; as, a cuspidate leaf.
Cuspidor Cus"pi·dor noun [ Portuguese
cuspideria , from
cuspir to spit.]
Any ornamental vessel used as a spittoon; hence, to avoid the common term, a spittoon of any sort.
Use the search box below if you want to search in Websters only, use the search box at the right to search all of Enyclo.
