1. To twist (the hair, for example) into ringlets or coils.
2. To form into a coiled or spiral shape: curled the ends of the ribbon.
3. To decorate with coiled or spiral shapes.
4. To raise and turn under (the upper lip), as in snarling or showing scorn.
5. Sports. To lift (a weight) by performing a curl.

1. To form ringlets or coils.
2. To assume a spiral or curved shape.
3. To move in a curve or spiral: The wave curled over the surfer.
4. Sports. To engage in curling.

1. Something with a spiral or coiled shape.
2. A coil or ringlet of hair.
3. A treatment in which the hair is curled.
4. 1. The act of curling: the curl of a meandering river.
   2. The state of being curled.
5. Sports. A weightlifting exercise using one or two hands, in which a weight held at the thigh or to the side of the body is raised to the chest or shoulder and then lowered without moving the upper arms, shoulders, or back.
6. Any of various plant diseases in which the leaves roll up.

curl up

1. To assume a position with the legs drawn up: The child curled up in an armchair to read.

[Middle English crullen, curlen, from crulle, curly, perhaps of Middle Low German origin.]

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.