<B>curiosa, </B>noun pl.<DL COMPACT><DD> books, manuscripts, or novel objects dealing with unusual, and often pornographic, subjects. </DL>
<A NAME="curiosity">
<B>curiosity, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ties.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>an eager desire to know. <BR> <I>Ex. He satisfied his curiosity about animals by visiting the zoo every week.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>the condition of being too eager to know; inquisitiveness. <BR> <I>Ex. Curiosity got the better of her, and she opened her sister's mail. Curiosity killed the cat.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>a strange, rare, or novel object; something arousing curiosity; novelty. <BR> <I>Ex. One of his curiosities was a basket made from an armadillo shell. His unexpectedly erratic behavior is a curiosity.</I> (SYN) curio, rarity, wonder. <DD><B> 4. </B>an odd, unusual, or interesting quality. <BR> <I>Ex. The president's childish behavior is of some curiosity. He was intrigued with the curiosity of the place.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>(Obsolete.) carefulness; accuracy; skill. </DL>
<A NAME="curious">
<B>curious, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>eager to know. <BR> <I>Ex. a curious student. Small children are very curious, and ask many questions. Girls have curious minds And fain would know the end of everything (Elizabeth Barrett Browning).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>too eager to know; prying. <BR> <I>Ex. Some people are always curious about their neighbors' business.</I> <DD><B> 3a. </B>strange; odd; unusual. <BR> <I>Ex. I found a curious old box in the attic.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>(in booksellers' jargon) pornographic. <DD><B> 4. </B>very odd; peculiar; eccentric. <BR> <I>Ex. curious notions. He is a very curious character.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>very careful; exact. <BR> <I>Ex. the curious inquiries of science.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>(Archaic.) made with skill. <DD><B> 7. </B>(Obsolete.) accurate; expert; fastidious. adv. <B>curiously.</B> noun <B>curiousness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="curium">
<B>curium, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a radioactive, metallic chemical element produced artificially from plutonium and americium. </DL>
<A NAME="curl">
<B>curl, </B>verb, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to twist into rings; roll into coils. <BR> <I>Ex. Mother curls her hair.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to twist out of shape; bend into a spiral or curve. <BR> <I>Ex. She kept curling her handkerchief nervously around one finger. He curled his lips into a forced smile.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Obsolete.) to adorn with curls or ringlets. <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to twist into rings; roll into coils. <BR> <I>Ex. Her sister's hair curls naturally.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to twist out of shape; bend into a curve. <BR> <I>Ex. Paper curls as it burns.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to rise in rings. <BR> <I>Ex. Smoke curled slowly from the campfire.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>to play at curling. <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a curled lock of hair; ringlet. <BR> <I>Ex. A wet curl hung out from under her rain hat.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>anything curled or bent into a curve. <BR> <I>Ex. A carpenter's shavings from curls. The Indians' signal fire gave off curls of smoke.</I> (SYN) convolution. <DD><B> 3. </B>a curling or being curled. (SYN) undulation. <DD><B> 4. </B>any of several diseases of plants, especially peaches, in which the leaves are curled up. <DD><B> 5. </B>(Surfing.) a hollow space formed between the spilling crest and the main body of a wave. <BR><I>expr. <B>curl one's lip.</B> </I>See under <B>lip.</B> <BR><I>expr. <B>curl up,</B> <DD><B> a. </B>to draw up one's legs. </I> <I>Ex. She curled up on the sofa.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>to roll up. <BR> <I>Ex. The snake curled up and died. He curls up as the mimosa leaf is said to do when the breeze turns from warm to cool (Sunday Times).</I> <DD><B> c. </B>(Informal.) to break down; give up. <BR> <I>Ex. At the half-distance Le Nord looked like winning easily; but he curled up in the last few strides (London Daily News).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>in curl,</B> </I>curled. <BR> <I>Ex. She had her hair in curl.</I> adj. <B>curlable.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="curler">
<B>curler, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person or thing that curls. <DD><B> 2. </B>a device on which hair is twisted or wound to make it curl. <DD><B> 3. </B>a person who plays at curling. </DL>
<A NAME="curlew">
<B>curlew, </B>noun, pl. <B>-lews</B> or (collectively) <B>-lew.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a wading bird with a long, thin, curved bill. Curlews belong to the same family as the sandpipers. </DL>
<A NAME="curlicue">
<B>curlicue</B> or <B>curlycue, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a fancy twist, curl, or flourish. <BR> <I>Ex. Curlicues in handwriting make it hard to read.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="curlicued">
<B>curlicued</B> or <B>curlycued, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having curlicues. </DL>
<A NAME="curling">
<B>curling, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a game in which large, smooth, rounded stones with handles are slid over ice at a target. <BR> <I>Ex. The ancient sport of curling grows in winter popularity at Chicago golf clubs (Wall Street Journal).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="curlingiron">
<B>curling iron</B> or <B>irons,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an instrument for curling or waving hair. </DL>
<A NAME="curlingstone">
<B>curling stone,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> one of the large, smooth, rounded stones used in curling. </DL>
<A NAME="curlingtongs">
<B>curling tongs,</B> <B>=curling irons.</B></DL>
<A NAME="curlpaper">
<B>curlpaper, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a piece of soft, folded paper over which a lock of hair is rolled up tightly to curl it. </DL>
<A NAME="curly">
<B>curly, </B>adjective, <B>curlier,</B> <B>curliest.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>curling; wavy. <BR> <I>Ex. curly hair.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>having curls or curly hair. <BR> <I>Ex. a curly head.</I> <DD><B> 3a. </B>having a grain which forms a wavy pattern. <BR> <I>Ex. curly birch.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>forming a wavy pattern. <BR> <I>Ex. birch with a curly grain.</I> adv. <B>curlily.</B> noun <B>curliness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="curlycoatedretriever">
<B>curly-coated retriever,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any one of a breed of hunting dogs having a black or liver-colored coat of thick, tight curls, and weighing from 60 to 70 pounds. </DL>
<A NAME="curlytop">
<B>curly top,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a highly infectious and destructive plant virus carried and transmitted by various leaf hoppers, affecting beets, tomatoes, beans, and squash. The leaves roll and become brittle around the edges and the plant shrivels up. </DL>
<A NAME="curmudgeon">
<B>curmudgeon, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a cantankerous, stingy, bad-tempered person; miser. <BR> <I>Ex. Only a curmudgeon would argue that the country ought not to build more schools or hospitals (Wall Street Journal).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="curmudgeonly">
<B>curmudgeonly, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> cantankerous; bad-tempered; miserly. <BR> <I>Ex. It will only be the most curmudgeonly of critical readers who will fail to learn a great deal at Mr. Spender's pleasantly informal school (London Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="curn">
<B>curn, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Scottish.) <DD><B> 1. </B>a grain. <DD><B> 2. </B>a small quantity or number; a few. </DL>
<A NAME="curr">
<B>curr, </B>intransitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> to make a low murmuring sound. <BR> <I>Ex. Doves and cats curr.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="currach">
<B>currach</B> or <B>curragh, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Scottish and Irish.) an open boat made of skin or canvas stretched over a frame of withes, larger than a coracle and boat-shaped. Also, <B>curagh.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="currajong">
<B>currajong, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> any one of various Australian trees or shrubs of the mallow and sterculia families whose strong, fibrous bark is used especially to make cordage and matting. Also, <B>currijong,</B> <B>kurrajong.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="currant">
<B>currant, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a small raisin without seeds, made from certain sorts of small, sweet grapes. Currants are used in puddings, cakes, and buns. They are produced chiefly in the countries on the eastern Mediterranean Sea and in California; Corinthian raisin. <DD><B> 2a. </B>a small, sour, red, black, or white berry, which is used in jelly, jam, wine, and pies. Currants grow in bunches on any one of various bushes that belong to the saxifrage family. <DD><B> b. </B>a bushy shrub that currants grow on. <DD><B> 3. </B>any one of various similar fruits or shrubs. </DL>
<A NAME="currantborer">
<B>currant borer</B> or <B>clearwing,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a clearwing (moth), the larva of which bores in stems of currant shrubs. </DL>
<A NAME="currantgall">
<B>currant gall,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a small round gall, like an unripe currant, formed by a hymenopterous insect in the male flowers and upon the leaves of the oak. </DL>
<A NAME="currency">
<B>currency, </B>noun, pl. <B>-cies.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>money in actual use in a country. <BR> <I>Ex. Coins and paper money are currency in the United States.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a passing from person to person; circulation. <BR> <I>Ex. People who spread a rumor give it currency.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>general use or acceptance; common occurrence. <BR> <I>Ex. Words such as "couldst" and "thou" have little currency now.</I> (SYN) prevalence, vogue. <DD><B> 4. </B>(Australian.) Australianborn whites as a group. </DL>
<A NAME="current">
<B>current, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a flow; stream. Running water or moving air makes a current. <BR> <I>Ex. The current swept the stick down the river. The draft created a current of cold air over my feet.</I> <DD><B> 2a. </B>a flow of electricity through a wire. Metals are good conductors of electric current. <BR> <I>Ex. The current went off when lightning hit the power lines.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>the rate or amount of such a flow, usually expressed in amperes. <BR> <I>Ex. Heating requires much more current than lighting does.</I> <DD> (Abbr:) c. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) course or movement (of events or of opinions); general direction. <BR> <I>Ex. Newspapers influence the current of public opinion.</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>of the present time. The current issue of a magazine is the latest one issued. <BR> <I>Ex. We discuss current events in class whenever somebody reports on the news.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) in general use; commonly occurring. <BR> <I>Ex. Long ago it was a current belief that the earth was flat.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>going around: passing from person to person. <BR> <I>Ex. A rumor is current that school will close tomorrow.</I> (SYN) prevalent. <DD><B> 4. </B>(Archaic.) running; flowing. noun <B>currentness.</B> </DL>
