Word.ws English Dictionary

curb

/kɜːb/US/kɝb/

curb noun: a concrete margin along the edge of a road; a kerb (UK, Australia, New Zealand). Also the ellipsis of curb stomp.

curb: a concrete margin along the edge of a road; a kerb (UK, Australia, New Zealand)
Image: Michelle Arseneault, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

curb (plural curbs)

  1. (US) A concrete margin along the edge of a road; a kerb (UK, Australia, New Zealand).
  2. (US) A raised margin along the edge of something, such as a well or the eye of a dome, as a strengthening.
  3. (US, figuratively) Something that checks or restrains; a restraint.
    • Even by theſe Men, Religion, that ſhould be / The curb, is made the ſpur to tyranny: / They with their double key of conſcience bind / The Subjects ſouls, and leave Kings unconfin'd; […]1641 (first performance), [John Denham], The Sophy. […], 2nd edition, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for H[enry] Herringman, […], published 1667, →OCLC, Act IV, pages [44A]–45
    • The same also is that burning mention’d by S. Paul, whereof mariage ought to be the remedy; the Flesh hath other naturall and easie curbs which are in the power of any temperate man..1643, John Milton, Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce
  4. (US) A riding or driving bit for a horse that has rein action which amplifies the pressure in the mouth by leverage advantage placing pressure on the poll by means of the crown piece of the bridle and chin groove by means of a curb chain.
    • He that before ran in the pastures wild / Felt the stiff curb controul his angry jaws.1605, Michael Drayton, The Fourth Eclogue
    • Captain went out in the cab all the morning. Harry came in after school to feed me and give me water. In the afternoon I was put into the cab. Jerry took as much pains to see if the collar and bridle fitted comfortably, as if he had been John Manly over again. When the crupper was let out a hole or...[1877], Anna Sewell, “A London Cab Horse”, in Black Beauty: […], London: Jarrold and Sons, […], →OCLC, part III, page 158
    Synonyms:
    curb bit
  5. (Canada, US) A sidewalk, covered or partially enclosed, bordering the airport terminal road system with adjacent paved areas to permit vehicles to off-load or load passengers.
  6. (US) A swelling on the back part of the hind leg of a horse, just behind the lowest part of the hock joint, generally causing lameness.

Verb

curb (third-person singular simple present curbs, present participle curbing, simple past and past participle curbed)

  1. (US, transitive) To check, restrain or control.
    • Curb your dog
    • Where pinching want must curb her warm desires.1718, Mat[thew] Prior, “Solomon on the Vanity of the World. A Poem in Three Books.”, in Poems on Several Occasions, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], and John Barber […], →OCLC, (please specify the page)
    Synonyms:
    behedge, curtail, limit
  2. (US, transitive) To rein in.
  3. (US, transitive) To furnish (a well etc.) with a curb; to restrain (a bank of earth, etc.) by a curb.
  4. (US, transitive) To bring to a stop beside a curb.
    • As had become her habit, Jane rove past her destination and curbed the car on a side street a block and a half away.2017, Dean Koontz, The Silent Corner, page 34
  5. (US, transitive) To damage vehicle wheels or tires by running into or over a pavement curb.
  6. (US, transitive) To bend or curve.
    • [B]y crooked and curbed lines, wee looke within the water; for our eie ſight doth bend and turne againe perforce, by reason that the matter of the water is more thicke; which is the cauſe, that we ſee the mariners oare in the ſea a farre off, as it were crooked.1603, Plutarch, “The Third Booke of Philosophers Opinions. Chap. V. Of the Rainbow.”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Philosophie, Commonlie Called, The Morals […], London: […] Arnold Hatfield...
  7. (US, intransitive) To crouch; to cringe.
    • Virtue itself of vice must pardon beg, / Yea, curb and woo for leave to do him good.c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
    Synonyms:
    bend, fawn, stoop

Also used as

curb is also the ellipsis of curb stomp.

curb meaning in Kannada, Gujarati, Malay and Indonesian

curb in Kannada

ನಿಗ್ರಹಿಸಲು

curb in Gujarati

કર્બ કરો

curb in Malay

concrete along the edge of a road
bebendul

curb in Indonesian

concrete along the edge of a road
kanstin, kereb
More languagesFewer languages
curb in Persian
جدول jadval, مهار mahâr, افسار afsâr

Examples of curb in a sentence

  • She maintains that the internet should face similar curbs to TV because young people are increasingly living online.2012 April 19, Josh Halliday, “Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised?”, in The Guardian:
  • There was no bearing rein—no curb—nothing but a plain ring snaffle.[1877], Anna Sewell, “A London Cab Horse”, in Black Beauty: […], London: Jarrold and Sons, […], →OCLC, part III, page 158:

All 40 example sentences with curb

Synonyms of curb

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of curb

Forms of curb

Noun
pluralcurbs
alternative UKkerb
alternative form (obsolete)kirb
Verb
third-person singular presentcurbs
present participlecurbing
past participlecurbed
pastcurbed

Past tense of curb: curbed

Plural of curb: curbs

Origin of curb

From Middle French courbe (“curve, curved object”), from Latin curvus (“bent, crooked, curved”). Doublet of curve.

Words formed from curb

Phrases with curb

12 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with curb

4 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about curb

What does curb mean?
Curb means a concrete margin along the edge of a road; a kerb (UK, Australia, New Zealand).
What is curb in Kannada?
Curb in Kannada is ನಿಗ್ರಹಿಸಲು. See Curb meaning in Kannada.
How do you use curb in a sentence?
She maintains that the internet should face similar curbs to TV because young people are increasingly living online.
What part of speech is curb?
Curb can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce curb?
Curb is pronounced /kɝb/ (US).
What is the plural of curb?
The plural of curb is curbs.

Words near curb in the dictionary

  1. Curaçaoan
  2. Curaçaoans
  3. curaçaos
  4. curaçoa
  5. curaçoas
  6. curb
  7. curb appeal
  8. curb bit
  9. curb bits
  10. curb bulb
  11. curb bulbs

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: curb (page history and authors); curb (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); curb (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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-curb.wav.

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