Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An appeal or prayer for evil or misfortune to befall someone or something.
- noun Evil or misfortune that comes as if in response to such an appeal.
- noun A source or cause of evil; a scourge.
- noun A profane word or phrase; a swearword.
- noun Ecclesiastical A censure, ban, or anathema.
- noun Often Offensive Menstruation. Used with the.
- intransitive verb To invoke evil or misfortune upon; damn.
- intransitive verb To swear at.
- intransitive verb To bring evil upon; afflict.
- intransitive verb Ecclesiastical To put under a ban or anathema; excommunicate.
- intransitive verb To utter curses; swear.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Literally, a cress: in popular use identified with curse, an imprecation, and used only as a symbol of utter worthlessness in certain negative expressions: as, “not worth a curse,” “to care not a curse,” etc.
- To wish evil to; imprecate or invoke evil upon; call down calamity, injury, or destruction upon; execrate in speech.
- Hence To put under ecclesiastical ban or anathema; excommunicate; condemn or sentence to the disabilities of excommunication.
- To bring or place a curse upon; blight or blast with a curse or malignant evils; vex, harass, or afflict with great calamities.
- To utter imprecations; affirm or deny with imprecations of divine vengeance; use blasphemous or profane language; swear.
- noun The expression of a wish of evil to another; an imprecation of evil; a malediction.
- noun Evil which has been solemnly invoked upon one.
- noun That which brings or causes evil or severe affliction or trouble; a great evil; a bane; a scourge: the opposite of
blessing: as, strong drink is a curse to millions. - noun Condemnation; sentence of evil or punishment.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To call upon divine or supernatural power to send injury upon; to imprecate evil upon; to execrate.
- transitive verb 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.
- transitive verb See under
Bell . - intransitive verb To utter imprecations or curses; to affirm or deny with imprecations; to swear.
- noun An invocation of, or prayer for, harm or injury; malediction.
- noun Evil pronounced or invoked upon another, solemnly, or in passion; subjection to, or sentence of, divine condemnation.
- noun The cause of great harm, evil, or misfortune; that which brings evil or severe affliction; torment.
- noun (Card Playing) the nine of diamonds.
- noun See under
Cress .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A supernatural
detriment orhindrance ; abane . - noun A
prayer orimprecation that harm may befall someone. - noun A vulgar
epithet . - noun UK, slang A woman's monthly period.
- verb transitive To place a curse upon (a person or object).
- verb transitive To speak or shout a vulgar curse or epithet at someone or something.
- verb intransitive To use
offensive ormorally inappropriate language.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb heap obscenities upon
- verb utter obscenities or profanities
- noun something causing misery or death
- verb wish harm upon; invoke evil upon
- noun a severe affliction
- noun an appeal to some supernatural power to inflict evil on someone or some group
- noun an evil spell
- noun profane or obscene expression usually of surprise or anger
- verb exclude from a church or a religious community
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Thou seest, not alone on thy doomed race rests a curse; the fierce anger of God, denounced against sin -- the _curse_, falls upon his dearest children.
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* They go challenge a demon in hell to cure them of the curse but how can I explain how they found out they had the curse * Alezander already knows, Tyler and Jeremy don't* so far I came up with that they visit a graveyard and they find Alezander's grave when it really is Alezander's phantom's grave * that's part of the curse* I think that's kinda stupid so what are other suggestions? don't answer unless you can say something helpful.
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Other memorable movie roles included Santa Claus in the 1989 movie "Prancer" and as the gypsy father, Tadzu Lempke, who utters the title curse in the 1996 movie "Stephen King's Thinner."
Berks county news 2010
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Tom Albanese , Rio Tinto's chief executive officer, said this week that all mining companies need to better manage what he referred to as the "curse of resource nationalism."
Brazil's Push to Oust Vale's CEO Reflects Trend Paulo Prada 2011
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OH, and I just realized my curse is alive and well.
Mid-Morning Ramblings... sidewinder 2002
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In other words, a curse is a dramatic attempt to compel the sympathy of the world, and it depends for its power on both sincerity and spectacle, or private emotion and public rage.
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That which you call a curse has come from circumstances which are common to both of us.
Dr. Wortle's School 1881
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The curse is poured upon us and the oath, that is, the curse that was ratified by an oath in the law of Moses, v. 11.
Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume IV (Isaiah to Malachi) 1721
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When I go I hope I have every opportinity to yell, scream, cuss ( "curse" is an incorrect term used widely now-a-days) and do at least a 5.6 off my nursing home or girlfriend's bed, preferrably shocking the whole town by being in early Greet Olympic attire.
Panel Discussion in Ajijic on Suicide and Self-deliverance. 2004
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And there came to me the jaded voices of men, in curse and snarl of slow - plodding, jaded animals.
Chapter 12 2010
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