curl

B2 Topic:General Vocabulary

US /kɜɹl/ UK /kɜːl/ See IPA manual

Freq #13394

Meanings

1

noun
A piece of hair that grows or is shaped in a curved, spiral form.

The baby had soft blonde curls.
2

verb
To form or twist into a curved or spiral shape.

Smoke curled up from the chimney.
3

verb
To bend your body into a rounded, comfortable position.

The cat curled up by the fire and fell asleep.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Multiword verbs with curl

curl up Phrasal verb B2

to bend one's body into a compact rounded position

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a piece of hair that grows... ringlet

2 verb · to form or twist into a... curve wave

3 verb · to bend your body into a... curl updraw in

Opposites

extension straighten uncoil unroll

Word family

Forms curledcurlingcurlsuncurled

Derived forms becurlbluecurlscurl-papercurl-upcurlablecurledcurlercurlicue curlinesscurlingcurlinglycurlless

Related forms coil

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

curl up
to bend one's body into a compact rounded position

Verb + adverb

Etymology

From metathesis of Middle English crulle (“curled, curly”), of uncertain origin but probably from an unrecorded Old English word or from Middle Dutch crul, crulle (“curl”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *kruzlǭ (“bent or crooked object, curl”), connected to *krūsą (“curl”), of unknown origin. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Krulle (“curl, lock”), West Frisian krul (“curl”), Dutch krul (“curl”), German Low German Krull (“curl”), dialectal German Krolle (“curl”), Danish krølle (“curl”), Norwegian Bokmål krøll (“curl”). Related also to Saterland Frisian Kruus (“curl”), German kraus (“frizzy, crum…

crulle Middle English crul Middle Dutch *kruzlǭ Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# curl

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /kɜɹl/
**IPA (UK):** /kɜːl/
**Frequency rank:** 13394

## Meanings
1. A piece of hair that grows or is shaped in a curved, spiral form.
2. To form or twist into a curved or spiral shape.
3. To bend your body into a rounded, comfortable position.

## Examples
- The baby had soft blonde curls.
- Smoke curled up from the chimney.
- The cat curled up by the fire and fell asleep.

## Antonyms
- extension
- straighten
- uncoil
- unroll

## Derived Forms
- becurl
- bluecurls
- curl-paper
- curl-up
- curlable
- curled
- curler
- curlicue
- curliness
- curling
- curlingly
- curlless

## Related Forms
- coil

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: crulle
- Root: crul
- Root: *kruzlǭ

## Etymology
From metathesis of Middle English crulle (“curled, curly”), of uncertain origin but probably from an unrecorded Old English word or from Middle Dutch crul, crulle (“curl”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *kruzlǭ (“bent or crooked object, curl”), connected to *krūsą (“curl”), of unknown origin. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Krulle (“curl, lock”), West Frisian krul (“curl”), Dutch krul (“curl”), German Low German Krull (“curl”), dialectal German Krolle (“curl”), Danish krølle (“curl”), Norwegian Bokmål krøll (“curl”). Related also to Saterland Frisian Kruus (“curl”), German kraus (“frizzy, crum…

## AI Etymology
curl comes from metathesis of Middle English crulle (“curled, curly”), of uncertain origin but probably from an unrecorded Old English word or from Middle Dutch crul, crulle (“curl”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *kruzlǭ (“bent or crooked object, curl”), connected to *krūsą (“curl”), of unknown origin. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Krulle (“curl, lock”), West Frisian krul (“curl”), Dutch krul (“curl”), German Low German Krull (“curl”), dialectal German Krolle (“curl”), Danish krølle (“curl”), Norwegian Bokmål krøll (“curl”). Current senses include A piece of hair that grows or is shaped in a curved, spiral form and to form or twist into a curved or spiral shape. English relatives and later formations include becurl, bluecurls, curl-paper, coil.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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