CURL

lock, curl, ringlet, whorl

(noun) a strand or cluster of hair

Curl, Robert Curl, Robert F. Curl, Robert Floyd Curl Jr.

(noun) American chemist who with Richard Smalley and Harold Kroto discovered fullerenes and opened a new branch of chemistry (born in 1933)

coil, whorl, roll, curl, curlicue, ringlet, gyre, scroll

(noun) a round shape formed by a series of concentric circles (as formed by leaves or flower petals)

curl, curve, kink

(verb) form a curl, curve, or kink; “the cigar smoke curled up at the ceiling”

curl

(verb) play the Scottish game of curling

curl, wave

(verb) twist or roll into coils or ringlets; “curl my hair, please”

coil, loop, curl

(verb) wind around something in coils or loops

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Proper noun

Curl

A surname.

Etymology

Noun

curl (plural curls)

A piece or lock of curling hair; a ringlet.

A curved stroke or shape.

A spin making the trajectory of an object curve.

(curling) Movement of a moving rock away from a straight line.

(weightlifting) Any exercise performed by bending the arm, wrist, or leg on the exertion against resistance, especially those that train the biceps.

(calculus) The vector field denoting the rotationality of a given vector field.

The curl of the vector field \(\vec{F}(x,y,z)\) is the vector field \(\operatorname{curl}\,\vec{F} \equiv \vec{\nabla}\times\vec{F}=\left( \frac{\partial F_z}{\partial y} - \frac{\partial F_y}{\partial z}, \frac{\partial F_x}{\partial z} - \frac{\partial F_z}{\partial x}, \frac{\partial F_y}{\partial x} - \frac{\partial F_x}{\partial y} \right)\).

(calculus, proper noun) The vector operator, denoted \(\rm{curl}\;\) or \(\vec{\nabla}\times\vec{\left(\cdot\right)}\), that generates this field.

(agriculture) Any of various diseases of plants causing the leaves or shoots to curl up; often specifically the potato curl.

(music, chiefly, lutherie) The contrasting light and dark figure seen in wood used for stringed instrument making; the flame.

(American football) A pattern where the receiver appears to be running a fly pattern but after a set number of steps or yards quickly stops and turns around, looking for a pass.

Synonyms

• (lock of curling hair): ringlet

• (curved stroke or shape): curlicue, curve, flourish, loop, spiral

Antonyms

• (weightlifting exercise): extension

Verb

curl (third-person singular simple present curls, present participle curling, simple past and past participle curled)

(transitive) To cause to move in a curve.

(transitive) To make into a curl or spiral.

(intransitive) To assume the shape of a curl or spiral.

(intransitive) To move in curves.

(intransitive, curling) To take part in the sport of curling.

(transitive, weightlifting) To exercise by bending the arm, wrist, or leg on the exertion against resistance, especially of the biceps.

To twist or form (the hair, etc.) into ringlets.

To deck with, or as if with, curls; to ornament.

To raise in waves or undulations; to ripple.

(hat-making) To shape (the brim of a hat) into a curve.

Synonyms

• (to make into a curl or spiral): arch, coil, roll up

• (to assume the shape of a curl or spiral): coil, roll up

• (to move in curves): curve, spiral

Antonyms

• (to make into a curl or spiral): straighten, uncoil, unroll

• (to assume the shape of a curl or spiral): straighten, uncoil, unroll

Source: Wiktionary


Curl (krl), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Curled (krld); p. pr. & vb. n. Curling.] Etym: [Akin to D. krullen, Dan. kr, dial. Sw. krulla to curl, crisp; possibly akin to E. crook. Cf. Curl, n., Cruller.]

1. To twist or form into ringlets; to crisp, as the hair. But curl their locks with bodkins and with braid. Cascoigne.

2. To twist or make onto coils, as a serpent's body. Of his tortuous train, Curled many a wanton wreath in sight of Eve. Milton.

3. To deck with, or as with, curls; to ornament. Thicker than the snaky locks That curledMegæra. Milton. Curling with metaphors a plain intention. Herbert.

4. To raise in waves or undulations; to ripple. Seas would be pools without the brushing air To curl the waves. Dryden.

5. (Hat Making)

Definition: To shape (the brim) into a curve.

Curl, v. i.

1. To contract or bend into curis or ringlets, as hair; to grow in curls or spirals, as a vine; to be crinkled or contorted; to have a curly appearance; as, leaves lie curled on the ground. Thou seest it [hair] will not curl by nature. Shak.

2. To move in curves, spirals, or undulations; to contract in curving outlines; to bend in a curved form; to make a curl or curls. "Cirling billows." Dryden. Then round her slender waist he curled. Dryden. Curling smokes from village tops are seen. Pope. Gayly curl the waves before each dashing prow. Byron. He smiled a king of sickly smile, and curled up on the floor. Bret Harte. . 358

3. To play at the game called curling. [Scot.]

Curl (krl), n. Etym: [Akin to D. krul, Dan. kr. See Curl, v. ]

1. A ringlet, especially of hair; anything of a spiral or winding form. Under a coronet, his flowing hair In curls on either cheek played. Milton.

2. An undulating or waving line or streak in any substance, as wood, glass, etc.; flexure; sinuosity. If the glass of the prisms . . . be without those numberless waves or curls which usually arise from the sand holes. Sir I. Newton.

3. A disease in potatoes, in which the leaves, at their first appearance, seem curled and shrunken. Blue curls. (Bot.) See under Blue.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Coffee Trivia

The word “coffee” entered the English language in 1582 via the Dutch “koffie,” borrowed from the Ottoman Turkish “kahve,” borrowed in turn from the Arabic “qahwah.” The Arabic word qahwah was traditionally held to refer to a type of wine.

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