Curculionidae 
coleopterous insects. They have a strong fold on 
the inner tun- of each of the elytra, the. pyi;idium divided 
in the males, the tarsi generally diluted, brush-like be- 
neath, and no accessory mandttrtllir place. There are over 
1,600 genera, all found on plants. About 10,000 species 
are described, in all of which the head is prolonged into a 
beak or snout, and furnished at the tip with a minute pair 
oMiarp horizontal jaws which are used by the insect in 
depositing its eggs, generally in the kernel of some fruit. 
See ruts under Anthononius, bean-weevil, and Conotrache- 
lui 
curcuma (ker'ku-ma), n. [= It. and F. cur- 
cuma, (NL. curcuma), < Ar. kurkum, saffron. See 
crocus. ] 1. A plant of the genus Curcuma. 
2. [<*(/>.] [NL.] A genus of plants, natural or- 
der SeitamiiHUe. They have perennial tuberous roots and 
annual stems, and the (lowers are in spikes with concave 
bracts. Some with bright-colored reddish or yellow flow- 
ers are found in hothouses. C. Zedoaria furnishes the 
zedoury of the shops. The colorless roots of C. aitgusti- 
fulia and C. kucorrhiza furnish a kind of starch some- 
times called East Indian arrowroot. The root of C. Ania- 
</ (mango-ginger), a native of Bengal, is used in the same 
way as ginger. C. longa yields turmeric, a mildly aromat- 
ic substance, employed medicinally in India, and forming 
an ingredient in the composition of curry-powder. 
curcuma-paper (ker'ku-ma-pa*per), . Paper 
stained with a decoction of turmeric acid and 
used by chemists as a test of free alkali, by the 
action of which it is stained brown. 
curcumin, curcumine (ker'ku-min), n. [< cur- 
cuma + -i 2 , -ine 2 .] The coloring matter of 
turmeric. 
curd 1 (kerd), . [Se. and E. dial, crud, < ME. 
curd, oftener crud, crod, usually in pi. cruddes, 
crodaes, < Ir. cruth, also spelled gruth, (/roth, = 
Gael, grutli, curds; cf. Ir. cruthaim, I milk.] 
1. The coagulated or thickened part of milk, 
which is formed into cheese, or eaten as food : 
often used in the plural. 
Curdx ami cream, the flower of country fare. 
Dryden, tr. of Ovid's Metamorph., viii. 96. 
2. The coagulated part of any liquid. 
It [the brass] is next dipped into a much stronger acid 
solution, where it remains until the curd appears. 
Spun, Eneyc. Maiiuf., p. 322. 
curd 1 (kerd), ?'. [Sc. and E. dial, crud, < ME. 
critdden, curd, coagulate; from the noun.] I, 
trans. To cause to coagulate ; turn to curd ; 
curdle ; congeal ; clot. 
Alle fresshe the mylk is crmlded now to chese. 
PaUadius, Husbondrie (E. E. T. S.), p. 154. 
Chaste as the icicle 
That's curded by the frost from purest snow, 
And hangs on Dian's temple. Shak., Cor., v. 3. 
God's mercy, maiden ! does it curd thy blood 
To say, I am thy mother ? Sliak., All's Well, i. 3. 
II. intrans. To become curdled or coagulated ; 
become curd. 
Being put into milke, it [mint] will not suffer it to turn 
or soure, it keepeth it from quailing .t curding. 
llullatul, tr. of Puny, xx. 14. 
Curd 2 , . See Kurd. 
curd-caket (kerd'kak), n. A small fried cake, 
made of curds, eggs, and a very little flour, 
sweetened, and spiced with nutmeg. 
curd-cutter (kerd'kut'er), n. An apparatus for 
cutting up cheese-curd to facilitate the separa- 
tion of the whey. 
curdiness (ker'di-nes), n. The state of being 
curdy. 
Curdle (ker'dl), v. ; pret. and pp. curdled, ppr. 
curdling. [Sc. and E. dial, cruddle, crudle ; 
freq. of curd, crud: see curd 1 , v.] I. trans. To 
change into curd ; cause to thicken or coagulate. 
There is in the spirit of wine some acidity, by which 
brandy curdles milk. Flayer. 
II. intrans. To coagulate or thicken ; become 
curd. 
curd-mill (kerd'mil), n. A curd-cutter. 
cur-dog (ker'dog), n. [< ME. cur-dog, curre- 
<li/(/e; < cur + dog.'] A cur; a worthless dog. 
curdy (ker'di), a. [Also dial, cruddy ; < curd*, 
crud, + -/!.] Like curd; full of or containing 
curd. 
It differs from a vegetable emulsion by coagulating into 
a curdy mass with acids. Arbutlinot, Aliments. 
cure (kur), n. [< ME. cure (also cury, q. v.), < 
OF. cure, F. cure = Pr. Sp. Pg. It. cura = MD. 
kurf, D. kuur = G. Dan. Sw. kur, < L. cura, OL. 
*coera, *coira, care, heed, attention, anxiety, 
grief, prob. connected with cavcre, pay heed, 
be cautious : see caution. Not related in any 
way to E. care. The medical senses are due in 
part to the verb.] 1. Care; concern; over- 
sight; charge. [Obsolete or rare except in the 
specific sense, def. 2.J 
Of studie took he most cure and most heede. 
Chaucer, Gen. Prol. to C. T., 1. 303. 
Nowc, faire lady, thynk, sithe it first began, 
That love had sette niyn herte vmlir your cure. 
l'ui:i;,-nl I'nfins, etc. (ed. Flirnivall), p. 70. 
1402 
Cranmer had declared, in emphatic terms, that God had 
immediately committed to Chris tian princes the whole cure 
of all their subjects, as well concerning the administration 
of God's word for the cure of souls as concerning the ad- 
ministration of things political. Maeaulay, Hist. Eng., i. 
Specifically 2. Spiritual charge ; the employ- 
ment or office of a curate or parish priest ; cu- 
racy: as, the cure of souls (see below): ordi- 
narily confined in use to the Roman Catholic 
and Anglican churches. 
Other men that wer oonly comtemplatiffe and were free 
from alle cures and prclaci, thei had fulle cherite to God 
and to hir evyne cristen. 
llmnoalt, Prose Treatises (E. E. T. S.), p. 20. 
A small cure of fifteen pounds a year was offered me in 
a distant neighbourhood. Goldsmith, Vicar, iii. 
3. The successful remedial treatment of a dis- 
ease ; the restoration of a sick person to health : 
as, to effect a cure. 
I cast out devils, and I do cures. Luke xiii. 32. 
She had done extraordinary cures since she was last in 
town. Steele, Tatler, No. 248. 
4. A method or course of remedial treatment 
for disease, whether successful or not : as, the 
water-cure. 
Horace advises the Romans to seek a seat in some re- 
mote part, by way of a cure for the corruption of manners. 
Swift. 
Like some sick man declined, 
And trusted any cure. Tennyson, Palace of Art. 
5. A remedy for disease; a means of curing 
disease ; that which heals : as, a cure for tooth- 
ache Cure of souls, the spiritual oversight of parish- 
ioners, or of others holding a similar relation, by a priest 
or clergyman ; specifically, in prelatical churches, an ec- 
clesiastical charge in which parochial duties and the ad- 
ministration of sacraments are included, primarily vested 
in the bishop of the diocese, the clergy of each parish act- 
ing as his deputies. 
A cure of souls is that portion of responsibility for the 
provision of sacraments to and the adequate instruction 
of the Catholic faithful which devolves upon the parish 
priest of a particular district, in regard to the souls of all 
persons dwelling within the limits of that district. 
Cath. Diet. 
To do no curet, to take no care. Chaucer. (See also 
grape-cure, movement-cure, water-cure, etc.) 
cure (kur), v. ; pret. and pp. cured, ppr. curing. 
[< ME. euren, C OF. curer, care for, etc., mod. 
F. curer, cleanse, = Sp. Pg. curar = It. curare, 
cure, = G. euriren = Dan. kurere = Sw. kurera, 
< L. curare, OL. eoerare, coirare, take care of, 
attend to, care for as a physician, cure, < cura, 
care, etc.: see cure, .] I. trans. If. To take 
care of; care for. 
Men dredeful curiden or buriden Stheuene. 
Wyclif, Deeds (Acts) viii. 2. 
2. To restore to health or to a sound state ; 
heal or make well : as, he was cured of a wound, 
or of a fever. 
The child was cured from that very hour. Mat. xvii. 18. 
I strive in vain to cure my wounded soul. 
B. Jontton, Every Man out of his Humour, i. 1. 
3. To remove or put an end to by remedial 
means; heal, as a disease; remedy, as an evil 
of any kind ; remove, as something objection- 
able. 
Then he called his twelve disciples together and gave 
them power ... to cure diseases. Luke ix. 1. 
This way of setting off, by the by, was not likely to cure 
my uncle Toby's suspicions. 
Sterne, Tristram Shandy, v. 3. 
The only way to cure mistrust is by showing that trust, 
if given, would not be misplaced, would not be betrayed. 
Gladstone, Might of Right, p. 269. 
4. To prepare for preservation by drying, salt- 
ing, etc. : as, to cure hay; to cure fish or beef. 
Who has not seen a salt fish thoroughly cured for this 
world, so that nothing can spoil it, and putting the per- 
severance of the saints to the blush ? 
Thoreau, Walden, p. 131. 
II. intrans. If. To care ; take care ; be care- 
ful. 
In hilles is to cure 
To set hem on the Southe if thai shall ure [burn]. 
Palladius, Husbondrie (E. E. T. S.), p. 91. 
2. To effect a cure. 
Whose smile and frown, like to Achilles' spear, 
Is able with the change to kill and cure. 
Slialc.,ZHen. VI., v. 1. 
3f. To become well ; be cured. 
One desperate grief cures with another's languish. 
Shak., R. and .!., i. 2. 
cur (kii-ra'), n. [F. : see citratel.] A Roman 
Catholic parish priest in France or in a French 
country. 
cure-all (kur'al), n. [< cure, v., + obj. all; 
equiv. to panacea.] A remedy for all kinds of 
diseases ; a panacea. 
To exalt their nostrum to the rank of a cure-all. 
The American, VII. 294. 
curia 
cureless (kur'les), a. [< cure + -/ess.] With- 
out cure; incurable; not admitting of a rem- 
edy : as, a cureless disorder. 
Whose cui-dexx wounds, even now, most freshly bleed. 
Sir J'. Sidney ( Arber's Eug. Garner, I. 527). 
In bitter mockery of hate, 
His cureless woes to aggravate. 
Scott, Rokeby, iv. 27. 
curer (kur'er), n. 1. A physician; one who 
heals. 2. One who preserves provisions, as 
beef, fish, and the like, from putrefaction, by 
means of salt or in any other manner. 
curettage (ku-ret'aj), . [< curette + -age.'] 
The application of 'the curette; the scraping 
away of granulations and the like with a cu- 
rette. 
curette (ku-ref), . [F., a scoop, scraper, < 
curer, clean, cleanse, prune, < L. curare, take care 
of: see cure, .] A small surgical instrument for 
scooping or scraping away, or otherwise remov- 
ing, substances which require removal, as ear- 
wax, a cataractous lens, stones in lithotomy, 
cysts, granulations, small polypi, and the like 
from the cavity of the uterus, or granulations 
and dried mucus from the throat. The curette 
may be spoon-, scoop-, or loop-shaped, with blunt or sharp 
edges, according to its special purpose. The name is also 
applied to a tubular suction-instrument used in the re- 
moval of soft cataracts. 
curette (ku-ref), . t. ; pret, and pp. curetted, 
ppr. curetting: [< curette, .] To scrape with 
a curette. 
curfew (ker'fii), n. [Early mod. E. also curfcu, 
courefewe, and corruptly curjle; < ME. cur/ewe, 
courfew, courfewe, courefeu, curfu, corfu, some- 
times with final r, curfur, corfour (Sc. curfure), 
< OF. courfeu, corfeu, and more corruptly car- 
refeu, cerrefeu, carfou (F. dial, carfou), contr. 
from cuevrefu, cocvrefeu, covrefeu, later couvre- 
feu, curfew, lit. ' cover-fire ' (cf . the equiv. ML. 
ignitegium or pyritegium, < L. ignis or Gr. irvp, 
fire, T L. tegcre, cover), \ OF. covrir, F. couvrir, 
cover, + feu, fire, < li-focm, a hearth : see cover 
and /oews, /McZ.] 1. The ringing of a bell at an 
early hour (originally 8 o'clock) in the evening, 
as a signal to the inhabitants of a town or vil- 
lage to extinguish their fires and lights ; the 
time of ringing the bell; the bell so rung, or 
its sound. This was a very common police regulation 
during the middle ages, as a protection against fires as 
well as against nocturnal disorders in the unlighted streets. 
The practice is commonly said to have been introduced 
into England from the continent by William the Con- 
queror, but it probably existed there before his time. The 
curfew-bell is still rung at 9 o'clock in some places, though 
it is several centuries since it was required by law. 
Aboute corfew tyme or litel more. 
Chaucer, Miller's Tale, 1. 459. 
He begins at curfew, and walks till the first cock. 
Shak., Lear, iii. 4. 
I hear the far-off curfeu sound, 
Over some wide-water'd shore, 
Swinging slow with sullen roar. 
Milton, II Penseroso, L 74. 
The curfew tolls the knell of parting day. Oray, Elegy. 
2. A cover, ornamented or plain, for a fire; a 
fire-plate ; a blower. 
Pots, pans, curfewn, coun- 
ters, and the like. Bacon. 
curfew-bell (ker'fu- 
bel), n. The bell with 
which the curfew is 
rung. 
The curfew bell hath rung; 
'tis three o'clock. 
Shak., R. and J., iv. 4. 
Life's curfew-bell. 
Lonfffellow. 
curfish (ker'fish), n. 
One of the scyllioid sharks ; a dogfish. [Local, 
Eng.] 
curflet, curfut, See curfew. 
CUrfuffle (ker-fuf'l), >. t. ; pret. and pp. curfuf- 
fled,-ppr.curfujfling. [Origin obscure.] To dis- 
order; ruffle; dishevel. 
[Scotch.] 
Dick mrfuffled a' her hair. A. Hess, Helenore, p. 81. 
CUrfuffle (ker-fuf'l), n. [< eurfufflr, r.] The 
state of being disordered or ruffled ; agitation ; 
perturbation. [Scotch.] 
My lord maun be turned feel outright, . . . an' he puts 
himsel' into sic a eurfujte for onything ye could bring 
him, Edie. Scott, Antiquary, xxix. 
curfurt, . See curfew. 
Curia (ku'ri-a), . ; pi. curia; (-e). [L. ; senses 2 
and 3 first iii ML.] 1. In Rom. antiq. : (a) One 
of the divisions of the citizens of Rome, with 
reference to locality. The number of the curia? 
is given as thirty, but the original number was 
smaller. 
Curfew for Fire. (From nemmin' 
" Encyclopedic des Beaux- Arts.") 
Also carfuffle, fuffle. 
