I. verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
silently
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She looked up into the gilt-edged mirror above the basin and cursed silently .
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His mouth felt like something rancid had curled up inside and he silently cursed the demon booze.
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Michael, waiting at the top, was silently cursing his father as he looked at his younger brothers' little faces.
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She'd sounded rather forlorn, she realised, and she silently cursed her frankness.
■ NOUN
breath
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Billy cursed under his breath as his hand slipped.
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I found myself stupidly cursing under my breath .
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He cursed under his breath as the flat bottom caused the water to cascade over his brown boots.
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Jody curses under her breath and makes some quick calls to Portland to line up another sponsor.
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Michael cursed under his breath but no one else spoke.
luck
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I cursed my luck and began to invent adventures.
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I thought of him and cursed my luck .
man
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I recently listened to such a man curse the government for doing nothing to help his game.
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A college-age man violently curses a woman he has never met and practically assaults her.
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Don Robey was not a man you cursed in person.
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Under his breath the man quietly cursed the interfering clerk who could bring his master's grand design to nothing.
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The little man cursed the brother and made him cut himself, so that he had to return home.
■ VERB
hear
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Adam heard him curse and the others laugh at his misfortune.
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I never even hear him curse .
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He heard his wife cursing Biddy inside the house, shouting for the animal to keep quiet.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
be cursed with/by sth
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He is cursed with this evaluative frame of mind.
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He is cursed with this understanding.
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I learned he had the same goofy sense of humor I was cursed with.
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Instead, he might be cursed with one who would rob him blind and charge him three-times the wages for the privilege.
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Lydia Glasher writes that the wearer of these diamonds will be cursed by the wrong she did.
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She loses her wings and dies, leaving him to be cursed by Madge.
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These poor chaps were searching desperately for a project which would not be cursed with the ephemeral vulgarity of their usual tasks.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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A drunk started cursing and spitting.
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I sat in my car, cursing the heavy traffic.
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People in many cultures believe witch doctors have the power to bless or curse their lives.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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Auguste found himself caught up in the general excitement and cursed his heavy waterlogged costume.
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He also treated the little gray man poorly and was likewise cursed.
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He is cursed with this evaluative frame of mind.
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Johnny Boyle pushed his way through the crowd gathering about Gallagher, cursing himself for not having arrived sooner.
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No song lasted more than three minutes, and after each the carrot-haired kid cursed us to death.
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She curses Alan, and she waits.
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She hated the thought that he must become a separate, uncomfortable metabolism cursed with effort and choice.
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Then Hank came out and drove off, and he cursed him quietly.
II. noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ VERB
hear
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She cleaned up the room, did not even hear his curses , and thought how nothing could affect her any longer.
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I heard curses , the screaming yelps of the animals, then I fainted.
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She heard Ludovico stumble, curse and then light a match.
mutter
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Mirabilis continued to stab the picture, muttering low-voiced curses , looking up at the walls where the pigeon was still standing.
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She cast her eyes skywards, muttering soft curses .
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I shivered and muttered a curse .
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He held his hand in the air, muttering Swahili curses as I wound the fabric round.
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Sir John had then stamped off, muttering curses about public officials who didn't seem to care.
put
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If you complained, he'd put a curse on you.
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So he put a curse on the house.
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He sometimes wondered if Eleanor had put a curse on him.
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They've put a curse on me now, for betraying Nerina.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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Being a war hero has turned out to be both a blessing and a curse .
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Connors started shouting curses at the umpire who called the ball out.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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And at every blow there was a moan or a curse as it went home.
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He had a curse when it came to machinery.
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History suggests the curse of kingship is the need to be wary of your own counsellors.
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Interesting times have been the proverbial blessing and a curse for Sassoon.
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Mr. Bowis Does my hon. Friend agree that a curse of modern urban living is musical mega-decibels in the night?
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The challenge of the car, which has blessed humanity so much, is to stop that blessing turning into a curse .
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The lucky boy accomplished the feat, and caught the evil, greedy king in a curse at the same time.
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They tell of phone numbers one can call for horoscopes, fortunes, curses, cures.