Curl

/kɜːl/ · noun

Meaning

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

Definitions by Sense

1. A curving piece or lock of hair; a ringlet.
2. A curved stroke or shape.
3. A spin making the trajectory of an object curve.
4. (curling) Movement of a moving rock away from a straight line.
5. (weightlifting) Any exercise performed by bending the arm, wrist, or leg on the exertion against resistance, especially those that train the biceps.
6. (calculus) The vector field denoting the rotationality of a given vector field.
7. (calculus, proper noun) The vector operator, denoted rm curl; or ⃑∇×⃑(·), that generates this field.
8. (agriculture, phytopathology, uncountable) Any of various diseases of plants causing the leaves or shoots to curl up; often specifically the potato curl.

Example Sentences

My hair doesn't have much curl.

[…]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.

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.

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.

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

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[…]

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

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 for curl

Antonyms for curl

Related Words

Word Forms

• curls
• curling
• curled

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

Practice and Learn More

Frequently Asked Questions