Curse
[kɜːs] or [kɝs]
Definition
(noun.) profane or obscene expression usually of surprise or anger; 'expletives were deleted'.
(noun.) a severe affliction.
(verb.) utter obscenities or profanities; 'The drunken men were cursing loudly in the street'.
(verb.) wish harm upon; invoke evil upon; 'The bad witch cursed the child'.
(verb.) heap obscenities upon; 'The taxi driver who felt he didn't get a high enough tip cursed the passenger'.
Editor: Rae--From WordNet
Definition
(v. t.) To call upon divine or supernatural power to send injury upon; to imprecate evil upon; to execrate.
(v. t.) To bring great evil upon; to be the cause of serious harm or unhappiness to; to furnish with that which will be a cause of deep trouble; to afflict or injure grievously; to harass or torment.
(v. i.) To utter imprecations or curses; to affirm or deny with imprecations; to swear.
(v. t.) An invocation of, or prayer for, harm or injury; malediction.
(v. t.) Evil pronounced or invoked upon another, solemnly, or in passion; subjection to, or sentence of, divine condemnation.
(v. t.) The cause of great harm, evil, or misfortune; that which brings evil or severe affliction; torment.
Inputed by Isabella
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. Execrate, anathematize, denounce, invoke or imprecate evil upon.
v. n. Utter curses.
n. [1]. Malediction, anathema, execration, imprecation, fulmination, denunciation, ban.[2]. Scourge, plague, torment, affliction, trouble, vexation, annoyance, bitter pill, thorn in the side.
Edited by Julia
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Execrate
ANT:Bless
SYN:Malediction, execration, imprecation, denunciation, anathema, bane, blight
ANT:Blessing, benediction, joy, crown, glory
Checked by Basil
Definition
v.t. to invoke or wish evil upon: to devote to perdition: to vex or torment.—v.i. to utter imprecations: to swear.—n. the invocation or wishing of evil or harm upon: evil invoked on another: torment: any great evil.—adj. Curs′ed under a curse: blasted by a curse: hateful.—adv. Curs′edly.—ns. Curs′edness; Curs′er; Curs′ing.—adj. Curst cursed: deserving a curse: ill-tempered: shrewish: froward.—n. Curst′ness state of being curst: peevishness: frowardness.
Typist: Rex
Unserious Contents or Definition
v.t. Energetically to belabor with a verbal slap-stick. This is an operation which in literature particularly in the drama is commonly fatal to the victim. Nevertheless the liability to a cursing is a risk that cuts but a small figure in fixing the rates of life insurance.
Checked by Karol
Examples
- Give my love to your aunt, George dear, and implore her not to curse the viper that has crossed your path and blighted your existence. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- I say that these monstrous laws of yours will bring a curse upon the land--God will not let such wickedness endure. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- The curse is laid upon them of being and doing what it approves, and when they attempt first principles the failure is ludicrous. Plato. The Republic.
- With the idea of uncleanness would come ideas of cleansing and of removing a curse. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- The curse of St Withold upon them and upon me! Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- Single men have, no doubt, a right to curse themselves as much as they please; but men with wives involve two in the doom they pray down. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- Well, I won't go to any more of their cursed nonsense, Tom, said St. Clare; on my honor, I won't. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- He cursed and vilified the hilltop. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- In my quiet days, when I was my own man, I never quarrelled with the night for being long, nor cursed my bed for its thorns. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- So many men had cursed him at the end. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- I cursed him before God, and told him I'd die sooner than live with him. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- You are a cursed emigrant, cried a farrier, making at him in a furious manner through the press, hammer in hand; and you are a cursed aristocrat! Charles Dickens. A Tale of Two Cities.
- I kept this to remind me of you trying to brush away the Villa Rossa from your teeth in the morning, swearing and eating aspirin and cursing harlots. Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell To Arms.
- They were reviling and cursing him. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
- Do the best you can,--do what you must,--and make it up in hating and cursing. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- When she mentioned Pablo, Agustín started cursing. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- Pilar stopped cursing and listened. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- After me poured a yelling, cheering, cursing throng of Helium's best fighting-men. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
- Their force has long passed away--Age has no pleasures, wrinkles have no influence, revenge itself dies away in impotent curses. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- Curses on your head, and black death on your heart, you imp! Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- As for the landlord of the hotel, his curses against the English nation were violent for the rest of his natural life. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- I don't care a curse for the T'other governor, alive or dead, but I care a many curses for my own self. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- He dared not own that the severity of the sentence frightened him, and that its fulfilment had come too soon upon his curses. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- He went downstairs, where, by the way, he vented the most horrid curses upon the unoffending footman, his subordinate. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- Curst Ate bides upon the threshold stone. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
Checked by Francis