n.
- An appeal or prayer for evil or misfortune to befall someone or something.
- The evil or misfortune that comes in or as if in response to such an appeal: bewailed the curse of ill health.
- One that is accursed.
- A source or cause of evil; a scourge: "Selfishness is the greatest curse of the human race" (William Ewart Gladstone).
- A profane word or phrase; a swearword.
- Ecclesiastical. A censure, ban, or anathema.
- Slang. Menstruation. Used with the.
v., cursed, or curst (kûrst), curs·ing, curs·es. v.tr.
- To invoke evil or misfortune upon; damn.
- To swear at.
- To bring evil upon; afflict: was cursed with crippling arthritis.
- Ecclesiastical. To put under a ban or an anathema; excommunicate.
To utter curses; swear.
[Middle English, from Old English curs.]
curser curs'er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
