curse

«curse» in Mova's school dictionary: a magic spell or wish that something bad will happen to… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a curse, curses); verb (curse, curses, cursed, cursing)

meaning for a pupil

1) A curse is a magic spell or wish that something bad will happen to someone, as in fairy tales. tree →

2) A curse is a rude or swear word that someone says when angry. tree →

3) (verb) To curse is to swear or use bad words, or to say angry things. tree →

4) (verb) To curse someone is to put a magic spell on them. tree →

5) A curse can be something that causes lots of trouble, like a long-lasting problem. tree →

sense in the lessons

In fairy tales and myths witches put curses on princes and castles; in everyday life «cursing» means swearing, which is not allowed at school. It tells the reader a character is very angry or under bad magic. Phrases: put a curse on, under a curse, curse under your breath, the curse of.

examples

• The wicked witch put a curse on the princess. tree →
• The castle was under a curse for a hundred years. tree →
• He cursed when he stubbed his toe. tree →
• Please don't curse in the classroom. tree →
• She cursed under her breath when the bus drove away. tree →
• The rain was the curse of our camping trip. tree →
• The curse was broken when the frog was kissed. tree →
• ‘These flowers are under a curse. tree →

note

Countable: a curse, curses. Past: cursed (said «curst»; the old adjective «cursed» can be said CUR-sed). «Cursing» and «swearing» mean the same in everyday talk. Myth: curses in stories are not real magic.

In the corpora

• "Gosh darn it" is an American polite form of the curse "God damn it".
• The curse of Tutankhamun is a newspaper legend; most people who opened the tomb lived long lives.
• In any week some bad luck happens to everyone, so a "curse" can always find something to blame.
• Better marks come from practice, not from mirrors, shoes on tables or the end of a curse.
• And now cursed art thou from the ground, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand.

Trees and pragmatics

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