484 
CUR 
tifed alfo a curiofty, to fet a tree upon the north fide of a 
wall, and, at a little height to draw it through the wall, 
and fpread it upon the fouth fide ; conceiving that the 
root and lower part of the dock fhould enjoy the frefh- 
nefs of the fnade, and the upper boughs and fruit, the 
Comfort of the iun; but it forted not. Bacon .—An ob¬ 
ject of curiofity ; rarity.—We took a ramble together to 
fee the curiofities of this great town. Addifon. 
CU'RIOUS, adj. [ curicfus , Lat.] Inquifitive ; delirous 
of information ; addicted to enquiry.—Be not curious in 
unnecelfary matters ; for more things are lhewn unto 
thee than men underftand. Ecclui. iii. 23. 
Reader, if any curious flay 
To afk my hated name, 
Tell them, the grave that hides my clay 
Conceals me from my fhame. Wejley. 
Attentive to ; diligent about: fometimes with after. —It 
is pity a gentleman fo very curious after things that were 
elegant and beautiful, fhould not have been as curious as 
to their origin, their ufes, and their natural hiltory. 
Woodward. —Sometimes with of: 
Then thus a fenior of the place replies. 
Well read, and curious vf antiquities. Dry den. 
Accurate; careful not to miftake.—Till Arianifm had 
made it a matter of great fharpnefs and fubtlety of wit 
to be a found believing Chriftian, men were not curious 
what fyllables or particles of fpeech they ufed. Hooker .— 
Difficult to pleafe; folicitous of perfection; not negli¬ 
gent ; full of care.—A temperate perfon is not curious of 
fancies and delicioufnefs ; he thinks not much, and fpeaks 
not often, of meat and drink. Taylor. —Exaft ; nice ; fub- 
tle.—Both thefe fenTes embrace their objefts at greater 
diflance, with more variety, and with a more curious dif- 
crimination, than the;other fenfe. Holder. —Artful; not 
negleftful; not fortuitous : 
A vale obfeur’d the funffiine of her eyes. 
The rofe within herfelf her fweetnefs clos’d; 
Each ornament about her feemly lies. 
By curious chance, or carelefs art, compos’d. Fairfax. 
Elegant; neat; laboured; finifhed.—Underflanding to 
devife curious works, to work in gold. Exodus .—Rigid; 
fevere; rigorous: 
For curious I cannot be with you 
Signior Baptifla, of whom I hear fo well. Shakefpeare. 
CU'RTOUSLY, adv. Inquifitively; attentively; ftu- 
dioufly.—At firft I thought there had been no light re- 
flefted from the water in that place; but obferving it 
more curioufy, I faw within it feveral fmaller round fpots, 
which appeared much blacker and darker than the reft. 
Newton.- —Elegantly; neatly. — Nor is it the having of 
wheels and fprings, though never fo curioufly wrought, 
and artificially fet, but the winding of them up, that 
muft give motion to the watch. South. —'Artfully ; ex- 
aftly ; captioufly. 
CU'RISCH-HAFF, or the Gulf of Courland, a 
lake or gulf of Pruflia, along fide of the Baltic, from 
which it is feparated by the Curifch-Nerung, extending 
from Memel to Labiaw, about fixty miles. The breadth 
js very unequal, being wide to the fouth, and narrow to¬ 
wards the north. 
CU'RISCH-NERUNG, a tongue of land or peninfula, 
feparating the Curifch-Haff from the Baltic. 
CU'RIUS DENTA'TUS (M. Annins), an illuftrious 
charafter in early Rome, of plebeian birth, who railed 
himfelf by his merit to the highefl offices of the Hate. 
He was made conful before Ohrid 290, when, after de¬ 
feating the Samnites, he had the honour of putting an 
end to the long war between them and the Romans by 
a final treaty. On this occafion, the Samnite deputies 
waited upon him with the hope of bribing him to grant 
better conditions to their nation. They found him cook¬ 
ing roots in his tent; and, when they offered him a large 
CUR 
fum of money, he rejected it with a difdainful finite, 
telling them, “ that one who could dine as he did, had 
no occafion for gold ; that he accounted it more honour¬ 
able to command the poffeffors of wealth, than to be 
wealthy himfelf; and that they might affure their coun¬ 
trymen, they would find it as difficult to corrupt as to 
conquer him.” His treaty was received with great joy 
at Rome, and he was honoured with a triumph. Soon 
after, he was fent againft the Sabines, whom he brought 
to fubmiflion ; and he triumphed over them alfo in the 
fame year : a glory which no Roman general before him 
had obtained. The envy of fome patricians caufed them 
to accufe him of embezzling part of the fpoil. He was 
put to his oath, and confelfed that he had done fo : he 
had retained for his own ufe a wooden oil-veffel for the 
purpofe of making libations to the gods. Some years 
afterwards, when the Senones had given the Romans a 
fignal defeat, Curius Dentatus was the commander chofen 
to oppofe them. Inftead of marching againft: the enemy's 
viftorious army, he prudently made an incurfion into 
their country, which he laid wafle, and thus drew them 
back from their invafion of Italy. In the fixth year of 
their war with Pyrrhus, before Chrift 275, Curius was a 
fecond time created conful ; and, finding it neceffary at 
that critical period to ufe rigour in levying foldiers, he 
fet the example of confifcating the property of thofe 
who did not appear when called upon. Advancing to 
Beneventum, lie entrenched himfelf there, waiting for 
fuccours ; but in the mean time he was attacked by- 
Pyrrhus. This led to a pitched battle, in which, after 
a long conftift, Pyrrhus was defeated with the lofs of 
23,000 men, and obliged to return to Epirus. Curius, 
on this occafion, triumphed with great magnificence, ex¬ 
hibiting not only avail quantity of rich fpoils, but fome 
captured elephants, the firft feen in Rome. The fenate 
offered him fifty acres of the conquered lands, which 
Curius refufed, faying, that feven acres, which was the 
ffiare that belonged to each Roman citizen, was enough 
for any man to live upon. He was continued in the con. 
fulate the enfuing year, before Chrift 274, as the return 
of Pyrrhus was ftill apprehended; but his arms were 
only employed againft the Lucanians, for his fuccefs 
againft whom he obtained the leffer triumph, or ovation. 
We hear nothing further concerning him, except that he 
expended part of the hoftile fpoils in bringing the water 
of the Anio to Rome. He relided in a cottage near which 
Cato the cenfor afterwards had his country feat ; and 
that eminent citizen often contemplated with admiration 
the fpot which, after three triumphs and three confulates, 
was cultivated by the hands of this great man. 
CURL, f. A ringlet of hair.—She apparelled herfelf 
like a page, cutting oft' her hair, leaving nothing but the 
ftiort curls to cover that noble head. Sidney. 
Juft as in aft he flood, in clouds enlhrin’d, 
Her hand (lie faften’d on his hair behind, 
Then backward by his yellow curls lhe drew; 
To him, and him alone, confefs’d in view. Drydes. 
Undulation ; wave ; finuofity ; flexure.—Thus" it hap. 
pens, if the glafs of the prifms be free from veins, and 
their lides be accurately plain and well polifhed, with¬ 
out thofe numberlefs waves or curls , which ufually arife 
from the fand-holes. Newton. 
To CURL, v. a. [krollen , Dut. cyppan, Sax. hrille, 
Dan.] To turn the hair in ringlets. To writhe; to twift* 
To drefs with curls: 
They, up the trees 
Climbing, fat thicker than the fnaky locks 
That curl’d Megsera. Milton. 
To raife in waves, undulations, or finuofities: 
Seas would be pools, without the bruffiing air 
To curl the waves. Dryden. 
To CURL, v. n. To (brink into ringlets.—Thofe (len¬ 
der aerial bodies are feparated and ftretched out, which 
etherwife. 
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