Word.ws English Dictionary

cur

/kɜː/US/kɝ/

cur noun: a contemptible or inferior dog.

Noun

cur (plural curs)

  1. (dated, humorous) A contemptible or inferior dog.
    • A fals double tunge is more fiers and fell
      Then Cerberus the cur couching in the kenel of hel;
      Wherof hereafter, I thinke for to write,c. 1515–1516, published 1568, John Skelton, Againſt venemous tongues enpoyſoned with ſclaunder and falſe detractions &c.
    • you have many enemies, that know not why they are so, but, like to village-curs, bark when their fellows do.1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio)...
  2. (dated, humorous) A detestable person.
    • This butcher's cur is venom-mouth'd, and I have not the power to muzzle him.1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio)...
    • "Who 's a cur - now - hey?"1900, Joseph Conrad, Lord Jim, page vi. 54
  3. (archaic, dialectal) A sheepdog or watchdog.
    • Then send our Curs to gather up the Sheep1710, Ambrose Phillips, Pastorals, The Fourth Pastoral , line 119
    • "He's a good sharp cur," or "a good cur," is said of any dog that barks at strangers and guards his master's property.1884, Robert Holland, A Glossary of Words used in the County of Chester, page 90

cur meaning in Tamil, Bengali and Malayalam

cur in Tamil

பயனற்ற, வேண்டாத, இழிவான நாய், கோழை

cur in Bengali

ছোটো কুকুর, নীচ ব্যক্তি

cur in Malayalam

താണജാതിപ്പട്ടി, കളളനായ്, നിന്ദ്യൻ, ഹീനൻ

Examples of cur in a sentence

  • A Churliſh Envious Curr vvas gotten into a Manger, and there lay Growling and Snarling to keep the Horſes from their Provender.1692, Roger L’Estrange, “[The Fables of Æsop, &c.] Fab[le] LXXVI. A Dog in a Manger.”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists...
  • He threw the soapsuds skilfully over a wretched little yellow cur he had, then turning his face to the agent's house, he shouted from the distance, "All the men gone last night!"1897, Joseph Conrad, “II”, in An Outpost of Progress:
  • "You have no more spirit than a mongrel cur.1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, “chapter 25”, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC:
  • What manner of cur are you that you traduce the character of a good woman whom we believe dead!1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 201:

All 11 example sentences with cur

Forms of cur

pluralcurs

Origin of cur

From Middle English curre (“watchdog, small hunting dog, mongrel, mutt”), perhaps of Middle Low German or North Germanic origin, possibly from Old Norse kurr (“grumbling”), itself of imitative origin. Compare Middle Dutch corre (“domestic dog, yard dog, watch-dog”), dialectal Dutch korre (“dog, yard dog”), dialectal Swedish kurre (“a dog”). Compare also Old Norse kurra (“to growl; grumble”), Middle Low German kurren, korren (“to growl”). Compare also Middle Dutch querie (“female dog, bitch”).

Words formed from cur

Phrases with cur

Words that rhyme with cur

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about cur

What does cur mean?
Cur means a contemptible or inferior dog.
What is cur in Tamil?
Cur in Tamil is பயனற்ற, வேண்டாத, இழிவான நாய். See Cur meaning in Tamil.
How do you use cur in a sentence?
A Churliſh Envious Curr vvas gotten into a Manger, and there lay Growling and Snarling to keep the Horſes from their Provender.
What part of speech is cur?
Cur is a noun.
How do you pronounce cur?
Cur is pronounced /kɜː/ (UK).
What is the plural of cur?
The plural of cur is curs.

Words near cur in the dictionary

  1. cupware
  2. cupwing
  3. cupwings
  4. cupwise
  5. Cupșeni
  6. cur
  7. cur fish
  8. cur fishes
  9. cur-fish
  10. cur-fishes
  11. Cura

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: cur (page history and authors); cur (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); cur (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); cur (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-cur.wav.

Cite this entry: “cur.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/cur. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.