I. ˈkərb, -ə̄b, -əib intransitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English courben, from Middle French courber, from Latin curvare, from curvus bent, curved — more at crown
archaic : bend , bow , cringe
II. noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: partly from curb (I) ; partly from Middle French courbe curve, curved piece of wood or iron, from courbe crooked, curved, bent, from Latin curvus
1. : a chain or strap attached to the upper part of the branches of a bit and used to restrain a horse — see bit illustration
2. : a usually curved enclosing frame, border, or edging ; specifically : the framing round the mouth of a well or of a shaft or at the change of slope in a roof
3. : a swelling on the back of the hind leg of a horse just behind the lowest part of the hock joint that is due to strain or rupture of the ligament and generally causes lameness
4. : check , restraint , control
a curb on rising prices
a curb on their unruliness
the curb of his mother's will had held him — Margaret Deland
5. : a raised edge or margin : a wall or casing to strengthen or confine
a. : a crib for molding a block of concrete
b. : the casing of a turbine wheel
c. : the curved guide for directing water against the buckets or floats of a breast wheel
d. : a flat ring usually of wood on which a complete section of brickwork lining for a shaft or well is built
e. : a lead flashing for the curb plate of a curb roof
f. : the lower of the two slopes of a mansard roof
g. Britain : a massive ornamental fireplace fender without a plane horizontal top
h. : an iron border to the incorporating bed of a gunpowder mill
i. : a timber nosing for a brick step
6. : a siding (as of stone or concrete) built along the edge of a street to form part of a gutter
7. or curb plate : a circular frame or plate around an opening to strengthen it (as the casing for a skylight, the wall plate at the springing of a dome, or the race of a windmill)
8. : the walls of a chamber in which sulfuric acid is manufactured
9.
a. : a sidewalk market : a street market
b. also curb market
[so called from the fact that it originally transacted its business on the street]
: a market for trading in securities not listed on the New York Stock Exchange ; also : the personnel, organization, or facilities of such a market
III. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
1. : to put a curb on (a horse) : check (a horse) with a curb
2.
a. : to bring to a stop and halt the forward course or progress of usually sharply
attempts to curb lynching by legislation have taken various forms — F.W.Coker
b. : to restrain, abate, or moderate the course or force of : guide , control , manage
the sober scientific method does not stimulate the imagination; it curbs it — S.M.Crothers
3.
a. : to furnish (a street) with a curb
b. : build a curb around
curb a well
4. : to make (telegraph signals) shorter and sharper by reducing retardation thus increasing speed
5. : to lead (a dog) to the gutter or other suitable place for defecation
Synonyms: see restrain
IV. adjective
Etymology: curb (III)
: used in or concerned with sending curbed telegraph signals