I. ˈkərl, esp before pause or consonant ˈkər.əl; ˈkə̄l, ˈkəil verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English curlen, crullen, from crolle, crulle curly, probably from Middle Dutch; akin to Old High German krol curly, Norwegian krull, Middle High German krūs, Old English crēas fine, elegant, cradol cradle — more at cradle
transitive verb
1. : to twist or form into coils or ringlets (as the hair)
2. : to form into a curved shape : make a curve or curves in or on : twist
curled one leg about the other
3. : to furnish with or as if with curls
a head curled with graceful locks
4. : to contort in a grimace or similar expression of feeling
curling his lips in a sneer
she looked at him contemptuously and then curled her mouth up in anger — Liam O'Flaherty
5. : to cut so thinly as to create a twisted or ringed effect
curled bacon
curled celery stalks
intransitive verb
1. : to grow in coils or spirals
her hair curls naturally
a curling vine
: form ripples, crinkles, or ringlets
her hair curls only in damp weather
bacon curls when fried
the crisp white edge of a curling wave — F.J.Mather
2. : to move or progress in curves or spirals
the lanes curl and wind into a … sort of labyrinth — Faubion Bowers
: form into rings or curves
the snake lashed and curled — William Beebe
: roll or move in ripples
his laughter curled round his sentences — Virginia Woolf
3. : to twist or contort (as in a grimace)
his lip curled in scorn
4. : to play the game of curling
Synonyms: see wind
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- curl the hair
II. noun
( -s )
1. : a lock of hair that coils : ringlet
2. : something having a curling or coiling shape (as a shaving of wood) : coil , spiral
3. : the action or fact of curling : the state of being curled
keep the hair in curl
4.
a. : an eddy in a stream
b. South : a bend in a stream
5. : an abnormal rolling or curling of leaves ; also : a malformation caused by the feeding of aphids or other sucking insects — compare leaf curl , leaf roll
6.
a. archery : a sudden turn in the grain of a bow
b. : a curved or spiral marking in the grain of wood
7. : tendril
8. mathematics : the vector product of the operator del and the vector
9. : the degree to which a sheet of paper departs from a plane when freely exposed to the atmosphere
III. noun
1. : a hollow arch of water formed when the crest of a breaking wave spills forward — called also tube tunnel
2. : a body-building exercise in which a weight held at thigh level is raised to chest or shoulder level and then lowered without moving the shoulders or upper arms