curl Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a round shape formed by a series of concentric circles (as formed by leaves or flower petals)
    gyre; ringlet; scroll; whorl; coil; curlicue; roll.
  2. noun American chemist who with Richard Smalley and Harold Kroto discovered fullerenes and opened a new branch of chemistry (born in 1933)
    Robert F. Curl; Robert Curl; Robert Floyd Curl Jr..
  3. noun a strand or cluster of hair
    lock; ringlet; whorl.
  4. verb form a curl, curve, or kink
    curve; kink.
    • the cigar smoke curled up at the ceiling
  5. verb shape one's body into a curl
    curl up; draw in.
    • She curled farther down under the covers
    • She fell and drew in
  6. verb wind around something in coils or loops
    coil; loop.
  7. verb twist or roll into coils or ringlets
    wave.
    • curl my hair, please
  8. verb play the Scottish game of curling

WordNet

Curl transitive verb
Etymology
Akin to D. krullen, Dan. krlle, dial. Sw. krulla to curl, crisp; possibly akin to E. crook. Cf. Curl, n., Cruller.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Curled present participle & verbal noun Curling
Definitions
  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 curledMegæra. 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.
Curl intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To contract or bend into curis 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.
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  3. To play at the game called curling. Scot.
Curl noun
Etymology
Akin to D. krul, Dan. krlle. See Curl, v.
Definitions
  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.

Webster 1913