to grow in or form curls or ringlets, as the hair.
to become curved or undulated.
to coil.
to play at the game of curling.
to progress in a curving direction or path; move in a curving or spiraling way: The ball curled toward the plate.
noun
a coil or ringlet of hair.
anything of a spiral or curved shape, as a lettuce leaf, wood shaving, etc.
a coil.
the act of curling or state of being curled.
Plant Pathology.
the distortion, fluting, or puffing of a leaf, resulting from the unequal development of its two sides.
a disease so characterized.
Also called rotation. Mathematics.
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.
the operation that produces this vector.
Weightlifting.
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.
a similar forearm lift using a dumbbell or dumbbells, usually from the side of the body to the shoulders.
Verb Phrases
curl up,to sit or lie down cozily: to curl up with a good book.
Idioms for curl
curl one's lip, to assume or display an expression of contempt: He curled his lip in disdain.
curl one's / the hair, to fill with horror or fright; shock: Some of his stories about sailing across the Atlantic are enough to curl one's hair.
Origin of curl
1400–50; late Middle English, apparently back formation from curled, metathetic variant of Middle English crulled (past participle) crul (adj.); compare Middle Dutch crullen to curl, cruller
I set-up my ring light, beat my face, put some gel in my chemo curls and facilitated my own photo shoot in the living room with my iPhone.
The Anatomy Of A Breast Cancer Survivor: ‘Early Detection Saved My Life’|Charli Penn|October 6, 2020|Essence.com
I wore a wig everyday which I loving named Ruby, her curls worked just as hard as I did!
Here’s The Beauty Routine Behind Laura Harrier’s Flawless Skin|Allison McGevna|October 5, 2020|Essence.com
The “Antebellum” star shared two selfies showing off her auburn red hair cut andgravity-defying curls.
Janelle Monáe Is Serving Up Fall Hair Inspiration In New Photos|Jennifer Ford|September 4, 2020|Essence.com
The only surprise was the left collar point, which was allowed to curl.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days|David Freeman|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Poetry is no longer something we curl up to with a cup of tea.
Americans Have Never Loved Poetry More—But They Call It Rap|John McWhorter|June 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Jonathan Coulton's song "Curl," with footage of Stephen Colbert trying out for the 2010 U.S. Curling Team.
Curling: Your New Olympic Addiction, Explained|Brett Singer|February 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Or to put it another way, sweeping helps make the stone not curl.
Curling: Your New Olympic Addiction, Explained|Brett Singer|February 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The smoke from his cigarette will curl around his head and nothing else near him will move, and you will wonder what he sees.
The Stacks: John Schulian’s Classic Profile of Newspaper Columnist Mike Royko|John Schulian|January 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Licking up the curl, the flame gradually leaped from one piece of wood to another until the entire handful was ablaze.
Boy Scouts Mysterious Signal|G. Harvey Ralphson
Sibyl paused; the pause was a tribute to the force of the curl of her sister's lip.
It Never Can Happen Again|William De Morgan
Their hands, too, have lost their grip, and there is no curl in their hair.
Franz Hals|Edgcumbe Staley
Soft-toed Samuel, he read, and a curl of contempt trembled along his thin lips.
Deering of Deal|Latta Griswold
"Dot can sleep with Granny, and I can curl up in any corner for to-night," said Charlie.
The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe|Amanda Minnie Douglas
British Dictionary definitions for curl
curl
/ (kɜːl) /
verb
(intr)(esp of hair) to grow into curves or ringlets
(tr sometimes foll by up) to twist or roll (something, esp hair) into coils or ringlets
(often foll by up)to become or cause to become spiral-shaped or curved; coilthe heat made the leaves curl up
(intr)to move in a curving or twisting manner
(intr)to play the game of curling
curl one's lipto show contempt, as by raising a corner of the lip
noun
a curve or coil of hair
a curved or spiral shape or mark, as in wood
the act of curling or state of being curled
any of various plant diseases characterized by curling of the leaves
Also called: rot, rotationmathsa vector quantity associated with a vector field that is the vector product of the operator ∇ and a vector function A, where ∇ = i ∂/∂ x + j ∂/∂b y + k ∂/∂ z,i, j, and k being unit vectors. Usually written curl A, rot ACompare divergence (def. 4), gradient (def. 4)
See also curl up
Word Origin for curl
C14: probably from Middle Dutch crullen to curl; related to Middle High German krol curly, Middle Low German krūs curly