curl: Meaning and Definition of

curl

Pronunciation: (kûrl), [key]
— v.t.
  1. to form into coils or ringlets, as the hair.
  2. to form into a spiral or curved shape; coil.
  3. to adorn with, or as with, curls or ringlets.
—v.i.
  1. to grow in or form curls or ringlets, as the hair.
  2. to become curved or undulated.
  3. to coil.
  4. to play at the game of curling.
  5. to progress in a curving direction or path; move in a curving or spiraling way: The ball curled toward the plate.
  6. to fill with horror or fright; shock: Some of his stories about sailing across the Atlantic are enough to curl one's hair.
  7. to assume or display an expression of contempt: He curled his lip in disdain.
  8. to sit or lie down cozily: to curl up with a good book.
—n.
  1. a coil or ringlet of hair.
  2. anything of a spiral or curved shape, as a lettuce leaf, wood shaving, etc.
  3. a coil.
  4. the act of curling or state of being curled.
    1. the distortion, fluting, or puffing of a leaf, resulting from the unequal development of its two sides.
    2. a disease so characterized.
  5. Also called
    1. a vector obtained from a given vector by taking its cross product with the vector whose coordinates are the partial derivative operators with respect to each coordinate.
    2. the operation that produces this vector.
    1. an underhand forearm lift in which the barbell, held against the thighs, is raised to the chest and then lowered while keeping the legs, upper arms, and shoulders taut.
    2. a similar forearm lift using a dumbbell or dumbbells, usually from the side of the body to the shoulders.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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