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▪ I. † courbe, a. Obs.
Also corbe.
[a. F. courbe, in OF. corbe (= Pr. and Cat. corb, Sp. and It. corvo):—L. curv-us bent.]
Bent, bowed, crooked.
1395Gower Conf. I. 99 Her necke is short, her shulders courbe. c1430Pilgr. Lyf Manhode iv. lvi. (1869) 203 Courbe and impotent j wole make þee with þe grete strokes j shal giue þee. 1579Spenser Sheph. Cal. Feb. 56 So on thy corbe shoulder it [thy head] leanes amisse.
b. Comb., as courbe-backed adj.
1480Caxton Ovid's Met. xii. xvi, An olde lytil man, pale and courbacked. 1484― Esope ij, He had a grete hede..corbe-backed, grete legges and large feet.
▪ II. † courbe, n. Obs.
[a. F. courbe, subst. use of the adj.: see prec. The modern form is curb, under which the surviving senses will be found.]
1. A crook, a hump.
1393Gower Conf. II. 159 Vulcanus, of whome I spake, He had a courbe upon the back.
2. A swelling on the back of a horse's hock: see curb n.
▪ III. † courbe, courb, v. Obs.
Also 5 kourbe.
[a. F. courber:—L. curvāre to bend: see curve v. In modern Eng. the form is curb, but the following senses are associated with the earlier form.]
1. intr. To curve, bend, bow.
1377Langl. P. Pl. B. ii. 1, I courbed on my knees and cryed hir of grace. 1602Shakes. Ham. iii. iv. 155 Vertue it selfe of Vice must pardon begge, Yea courb and woe, for leaue to do him good.
2. trans. To bend, bow.
1430Lydg. Chron. Troy v. xxxvi, He thrugh whom al is wrong kourbed. 1664Evelyn Sylva 41 Sallys may also be propagated like Vines, by courbing, and bowing them in Arches. 1814Cary Dante (Chandos ed.) 138 So courb'd to earth, beneath their heavy teems Of torment stoop they.
3. See curb v. |