curl

plural curls

1. A curving piece or lock of hair; a ringlet.

   My hair doesn't have much curl.

   3 more examples

   […]she took it down, looked long and fondly at it, then, shaking her curls about her face, as if to hide the act, pressed it to her lips and seemed to weep over it in an uncontrollable paroxysm of tender grief.

   1866, Louisa May Alcott, chapter 7, in Behind A Mask or, A Woman's Power

   Serene, smiling, enigmatic, she faced him with no fear whatever showing in her dark eyes.[…]She put back a truant curl from her forehead where it had sought egress to the world, and looked him full in the face now, drawing a deep breath which caused the round of her bosom to lift the lace at her throat.

   1910, Emerson Hough, chapter 1, in The Purchase Price

   The face which emerged was not reassuring.[…]. He was not a mongol but there was a deficiency of a sort there, and it was not made more pretty by a latter-day hair cut which involved eccentrically long elf-locks and oiled black curls.

   1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 17, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC

   Synonyms: ringlet

2. A curved stroke or shape.

   […] the backs of their necks and their forelegs are decorated with curls and their necks and bodies are covered with fine, undulating lines.

   1995, John Curtis, Julian Reade, Dominique Collon, Art and Empire: Treasures from Assyria in the British Museum, page 184

   Synonyms: curlicue, curve, flourish, loop, spiral

3. A spin making the trajectory of an object curve.

   It is possible to use the wind which blows from the left to the right by playing well into the wind with the slightest bit of curl on the ball[…]

   1909, Harold Horsfall Hilton, The Six Handicap Golfer's Companion, page 38

4. ball gamesMovement of a moving rock away from a straight line.
5. hobbiesAny exercise performed by bending the arm, wrist, or leg on the exertion against resistance, especially those that train the biceps.

   Now do a curl and an overhead press, keeping your palms facing in.

   2007 (Jan/Feb), Jon Crosby, "Your Winter Muscle Makeover", Men's Health, page 54

6. calculusThe vector field denoting the rotationality of a given vector field.

   In 2D, when Q is a polygonal domain, the singularities of Type (2) disappear because ψ is the scalar curl of u and is such that its vectorial curl is zero.

   1995, Erich Prisner, Graph dynamics

   1 more example

   The curl of the vector field #92;vec#123;F#125;(x,y,z) is the vector field #92;operatorname#123;curl#125;#92;,#92;vec#123;F#125;#92;equiv#92;vec#123;#92;nabla#125;#92;times#92;vec#123;F#125;#61;#92;left(#92;frac#123;#92;partialF#95;z#125;#123;#92;partialy#125;-#92;frac#123;#92;partialF#95;y#125;#123;#92;partialz#125;,#92;frac#123;#92;partialF#95;x#125;#123;#92;partialz#125;-#92;frac#123;#92;partialF#95;z#125;#123;#92;partialx#125;,#92;frac#123;#92;partialF#95;y#125;#123;#92;partialx#125;-#92;frac#123;#92;partialF#95;x#125;#123;#92;partialy#125;#92;right).

   Synonyms: mul:∇×

7. proper nouncalculusThe vector operator, denoted rm curl; or ⃑∇×⃑(·), that generates this field.
8. uncountableagricultureAny of various diseases of plants causing the leaves or shoots to curl up; often specifically the potato curl.

   These potatoes, however, planted the next year, have a fair yield, untouched by the curl.

   1840, "Farmers' Department", The Family Magazine, volume 1, page 227

9. artsThe contrasting light and dark figure seen in wood used for stringed instrument making; the flame.

   The one-piece back is of a medium curl.

10. American footballA 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.
11. in pluralbakingA thin, curved piece of chocolate used as decoration.
12. hobbiesThe concave part of a breaking wave.

    The main object in surfing is to always remain in the curl.

    1966, Bruce Brown, director, The Endless Summer

present singular third person curls · participle present curling · participle past curled · past curled

1. transitiveTo cause to move in a curve.

   He picked the ball up about forty yards out on the left wing, left a trail of Arsenal defenders in his wake, and curled the ball round Geoff Barnett as he came right out into the far corner.

   1998, Nick Hornby, Fever Pitch, page 70

   1 more example

   Campbell should have scored but missed with a header from four yards at the far post before Taylor-Fletcher came close to adding a second when he curled an effort over the stranded Reina, who should have been punished for a poor clearance.

   2011 January 12, Saj Chowdhury, “Liverpool 2-1 Liverpool”, in BBC

2. transitiveTo make into a curl or spiral.

   She curls her spine; she wedges a pillow between her knees.

   2004, Jacquelyn Mitchard, Twelve Times Blessed, page 249

   Synonyms: arch, coil, roll up

3. intransitiveTo assume the shape of a curl or spiral.

   It seemed to me that Mr. St. John's under lip protruded, and his upper lip curled a moment.

   1847, Charlotte Brontë, chapter XXXI, in Jane Eyre

   Synonyms: coil, roll up, billow

4. intransitiveTo move in curves.

   Clouds curled down from the mountains.

   1977, Scott O'Dell, Carlota, page 1

   1 more example

   The ball curled to a stop within six inches of the hole.

   2007, John Coyne, The Caddie Who Knew Ben Hogan, page 97

   Synonyms: curve, spiral

5. intransitiveball gamesTo take part in the sport of curling.

   I curl at my local club every weekend.

6. transitivehobbiesTo exercise by bending the arm, wrist, or leg on the exertion against resistance, especially of the biceps.

   When curling the weight, bring the barbell up toward the chin, then return it to its starting position. Keep your elbows and upper arms as immobile as possible to isolate the biceps.

   2008, Joseph Lee Klapper, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Boosting Your Metabolism, page 119

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

   But curl their locks with bodkins and with braids

   1576, George Gascoigne, The Steele Glas, Epilogus

   1 more example

   There was also hairdressing: hairdressing, too, really was hairdressing in those times — no running a comb through it and that was that. It was curled, frizzed, waved, put in curlers overnight, waved with hot tongs;[…].

   1977, Agatha Christie, chapter 4, in An Autobiography, part II, London: Collins, →ISBN

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

   Curling with metaphors a plain intention.

   1633, George Herbert, Jordan

   1 more example

   Thicker than the snakie locks / That curld Megæra.

   1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC

9. To raise in waves or undulations; to ripple.

   Seas would be pools without the brushing air / To curl the waves.

   1700, [John] Dryden, “The Flower and the Leaf: Or, The Lady in the Arbour. A Vision.”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC

10. hat-makingTo shape (the brim of a hat) into a curve.

1. A surname.

plural Curls

1. abbreviationellipsisEllipsis of American Curl.

   Curls may be mated with curls.

   2012, Jerold S. Bell, Kathleen E. Cavanagh, Larry P. Tilley, Francis W. K. Smith, editors, Veterinary Medical Guide to Dog and Cat Breeds, page 501

   2 more examples

   Longhaired curls should have silky coats of medium length.

   1998, Stuart A. Kallen, American Curl Cats, page 10

   In addition to their ears, Curls are known for their silky, flat coat which can be long or short.

   c. 2020, “American Curl Cat Breed”, in Purina, archived from the original on 27 Sep 2020