curl
part of speech
noun (curl, curls); verb (curl, curls, curled, curling)
meaning for a pupil
1) A curl is a piece of hair that grows or is shaped in a round twist. tree →
2) To curl is to bend into a round or spiral shape. tree →
3) To curl up is to lie with your arms and legs pulled close to your body. tree →
4) A curl is any spiral shape, like a curl of smoke. tree →
sense in the lessons
In everyday life people have curly hair or use curlers. In science lessons hedgehogs and woodlice curl into a ball to protect themselves; leaves curl when dry. In stories a cat curls up by the fire and smoke curls from a chimney. Phrases: curl up, curly hair, curl into a ball, bicep curl, curling (a sport on ice).
examples
- She has long brown curls. tree →
- The cat curled up on the cushion. tree →
- A hedgehog curls into a ball when it is scared. tree →
- Smoke curled from the chimney. tree →
- The dry leaves curled at the edges. tree →
- He curled his fingers around the cup. tree →
- Curling is a sport played on ice with heavy stones. tree →
- Then he curled himself up and went to sleep. tree →
note
Regular verb (curled). Adjective: curly. Curling is a winter sport popular in Canada and Scotland. «Curl up» can also mean to feel very embarrassed: «I wanted to curl up and die».
In the corpora
- Many share a sofa, and some curl up asleep on the same rug, especially if they met when young.
- The Jaragua dwarf gecko of the Caribbean is one of the smallest reptiles, small enough to curl up on a coin.
- Today they curl up on our sofas and purr.
- Hedgehog curls into a ball and Tortoise pulls in his head and feet, so Jaguar cannot tell which is which.
- Jaguar turns it into a rhyme: «Can't curl, but can swim, Slow-Solid, that's him!
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «curl» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.