cur

«cur» in Mova's school dictionary: a dog of no special breed, especially a bad-tempered or… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

noun (a cur, curs)

meaning for a pupil

1) (old) A cur is a dog of no special breed, especially a bad-tempered or dirty one. tree →

2) (old, insulting) Calling a man a cur means he is mean, cowardly or worthless. tree →

sense in the lessons

In old stories and Shakespeare-free classics, curs are snapping village dogs, and «You cur!» is a hero's insult to a villain. In The Wind in the Willows and Alice, old-fashioned insults like this make the speech sound grand or angry. In Alice, the Mouse's tale tells of a dog called Fury who is like a cruel cur.

examples

• A mangy cur barked at the beggar. tree →
• «Out of my way, you cowardly cur!» tree →
• The village curs chased the cart. tree →
• The cur snarled and showed its teeth. tree →
• Only a cur would hit someone smaller. tree →
• Fury, the dog in the Mouse's tale, acts as judge and jury. tree →

note

Countable: curs. Old-fashioned; today «mongrel» (mixed-breed dog). As an insult it is rude. Sounds like «cur» in «curtain» (rhymes with «fur»).

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «cur» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.