Curb CURB, n. 1. In the manege, a chain of iron made fast to the
upper part of the branches of the bridle, in a hole called the eye,
and running over the beard of the horse. It consists of three parts;
the hook, fixed to the eye of the branch; the chain or links; and the
two rings or mails. 2. Restraint; check; hindrance. Religion
should operate as an effectual curb to the passions. 3. A frame or
a wall round the mouth of a well. 4. A hard and callous swelling on
the hind part of the hock of a horses leg, attended with stiffness, and
sometimes pain and lameness. A tumor on the inside of a horses hoof. A
swelling beneath the elbow of a horses hoof. CURB, v.t.
1. To restrain; to guide and manage; as a horse. 2. To restrain;
to check; to hold back; to confine; to keep in subjection; as, to curb
the passions. And wisely learn to curb thy sorrows wild. 3. To
furnish or surround with a curb, as a well. 4. To bend. [Not used.]
curb
n 1: an edge between a sidewalk and a roadway consisting of a
line of curbstones (usually forming part of a gutter) [syn:
curb, curbing, kerb]
2: a horse's bit with an attached chain or strap to check the
horse [syn: curb, curb bit]
3: a stock exchange in New York [syn: American Stock Exchange,
AMEX, Curb]
4: the act of restraining power or action or limiting excess;
"his common sense is a bridle to his quick temper" [syn:
bridle, check, curb]
v 1: lessen the intensity of; temper; hold in restraint; hold or
keep within limits; "moderate your alcohol intake"; "hold
your tongue"; "hold your temper"; "control your anger"
[syn: control, hold in, hold, contain, check,
curb, moderate]
2: to put down by force or authority; "suppress a nascent
uprising"; "stamp down on littering"; "conquer one's desires"
[syn: suppress, stamp down, inhibit, subdue,
conquer, curb]
3: keep to the curb; "curb your dogs"
4: place restrictions on; "curtail drinking in school" [syn:
restrict, curtail, curb, cut back]
curb I. nounEtymology: Middle French courbe curve, curved piece of wood
or iron, from courbe curved, from Latin curvusDate:
15th century 1. a bit that exerts severe pressure on a horse's
jaws; also the chain or strap attached to it — see bit
illustration 2. an enclosing frame, border, or edging 3.check, restraint <a price curb> 4. a raised edge
or margin to strengthen or confine 5. an edging (as of concrete)
built along a street to form part of a gutter 6. [from the fact that
it originally transacted its business on the street] a market for trading
in securities not listed on a stock exchange
II. transitive verbDate: 1530 1. to furnish with
a curb 2. to check or control with or as if with a curb <trying
to curb her curiosity> 3. to lead (a dog) to a suitable
place (as a gutter) for defecation Synonyms:seerestrain
curb n. & v. --n. 1 a check or restraint. 2 a strap etc. fastened to the bit and passing under a horse's lower jaw, used as a check. 3 an enclosing border or edging such as the frame
round the top of a well or a fender round a hearth. 4 = KERB. --v.tr. 1 restrain. 2 put a curb on (a horse). Phrases and idioms: curb roof a roof of which each face has two
slopes, the lower one steeper. Etymology: ME f. OF courber f. L curvare bend, CURVE
curb
(curbs, curbing, curbed)
1. If you curb something, you control it and keep it within limits.
...advertisements aimed at curbing the spread of Aids...Inflation needs to be curbed in Russia.= check, restrain
VERB: V n, be V-ed
• Curb is also a noun.
He called for much stricter curbs on immigration.N-COUNT: oft N on n
2. If you curb an emotion or your behaviour, you keep it under control.
He curbed his temper...= check, restrain
VERB: V n
3.
seekerb
curb
kə:b n. & v. --n. 1 a check or restraint. 2 a strap etc. fastened
to the bit and passing under a horse's lower jaw, used as a check. 3 an
enclosing border or edging such as the frame round the top of a well or
a fender round a hearth. 4 = KERB. --v.tr. 1 restrain. 2 put a curb on (a
horse). øcurb roof a roof of which each face has two slopes, the lower one
steeper. [ME f. OF courber f. L curvare bend, CURVE]
Curb \Curb\, n.
1. That which curbs, restrains, or subdues; a check or
hindrance; esp., a chain or strap attached to the upper
part of the branches of a bit, and capable of being drawn
tightly against the lower jaw of the horse.
He that before ran in the pastures wild Felt the
stiff curb control his angry jaws. --Drayton.
By these men, religion,that should be The curb, is
made the spur of tyranny. --Denham.
2. (Arch.) An assemblage of three or more pieces of timber,
or a metal member, forming a frame around an opening, and
serving to maintain the integrity of that opening; also, a
ring of stone serving a similar purpose, as at the eye of
a dome.
3. A frame or wall round the mouth of a well; also, a frame
within a well to prevent the earth caving in.
4. A curbstone.
5. (Far.) 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. --James Law.
Curb bit, a stiff bit having branches by which a leverage
is obtained upon the jaws of horse. --Knight.
Curb pins (Horology), the pins on the regulator which
restrain the hairspring.
Curb plate (Arch.), a plate serving the purpose of a curb.
Deck curb. See under Deck.
Curb \Curb\ (k?rb), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Curbed (k?rbd); p. pr.
& vb. n. Curbing.] [F. courber to bend, curve, L. curvare,
fr. curvus bent, curved; cf. Gr. ?????? curved. Cf. Curve.]
1. To bend or curve [Obs.]
Crooked and curbed lines. --Holland.
2. To guide and manage, or restrain, as with a curb; to bend
to one's will; to subject; to subdue; to restrain; to
confine; to keep in check.
Part wield their arms, part curb the foaming steed.
--Milton.
Where pinching want must curbthy warm desires.
--Prior.
3. To furnish wich a curb, as a well; also, to restrain by a
curb, as a bank of earth.
curb
I. n.1. Restraint, hindrance, bridle. See check, 1.
2. Curb-stone, edge-stone.
3. Breast-wall, retaining-wall.
II. v. a.
Check, restrain, control, repress, bridle, put under restraint, keep under, hold in check.
curb
kə:b n.
1 check, restraint, control: You should put a curb on your tongue. --v.
2 check, restrain, bridle, control, contain, repress, subdue, suppress: Try to curb
your exuberance.
On most web browsers you can double click any word on this page to see what definitions I have for that word.
This dictionary server is not an authoratative source of information for anything. Like almost everything at sorabji.com, I set this up for my own purposes. In this case the purpose is to
browse words and ideas at random. An automatically generated page that produces Random Words
is my gateway to this resource. Below is a list of some of my favorite words discovered here. I also have attempted a word of the day type of thing,
in which I simply post interesting words that I find through the Wordswarm Random Words Pages. I have made available the complete 1828 Webster's Dictionary, which many feel is the greatest English dictionary ever published.
Other random links of mine include the Sorabji.com Random Link, which sends you to one of
over 7,000 pages on my web sites; the Face Server produces random images of
human faces; clicking the Random WAYD link shows you a random posting to my "What Are You Doing?" board; the Random USPS
Mailbox link sends you to a page with information about a random mailbox; and the random pictures page page of sorabji.com shows one of over 11,000 random images any time you load the page. On an unrelated note, I have begun making several thousand pages of legal documents searchable.