curb

• kerb (British) (noun, and verb senses 3, 4 and 5 only)
• kirb

From Middle French courbe (“curve, curved object”), from Latin curvus (“bent, crooked, curved”). Doublet of curve.

• (General American) IPA^(key): /kɝb/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kɜːb/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)b
• Homophones: kerb, kirb

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

curb (plural curbs)

1. (American spelling, Canadian spelling) A concrete margin along the edge of a road; a kerb (UK, Australia, New Zealand)
2. A raised margin along the edge of something, such as a well or the eye of a dome, as a strengthening.
3. Something that checks or restrains; a restraint.
   • 1642, [John Denham], The Sophy. […], 2nd edition, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for H[enry] Herringman, […], published 1667, OCLC 16384548, Act IV, pages [44A]–45:

     Even by theſe Men, Religion, that ſhould be / The curb, is made the ſpur to tyranny: / They with their double key of conſcience bind / The Subjects ſouls, and leave Kings unconfin'd; […]

   • 2012 April 19, Josh Halliday, “Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised?”, in The Guardian‎:

     She maintains that the internet should face similar curbs to TV because young people are increasingly living online. "It's totally different, someone at Google watching the video from the comfort of their office in San Francisco to someone from a council house in London, where this video is happening right outside their front door."

4. A riding or driving bit for a horse that has rein action which amplifies the pressure in the mouth by leverage advantage placing pressure on the poll via the crown piece of the bridle and chin groove via a curb chain.
   • 1605, Michael Drayton, The Fourth Eclogue

     He that before ran in the pastures wild / Felt the stiff curb controul his angry jaws.

   • 1877, Anna Sewell, Black Beauty: […], London: Jarrold and Sons, […], OCLC 228733457:

     Captain went out in the cab all the morning. Harry came in after school to feed me and give me water. In the afternoon I was put into the cab. Jerry took as much pains to see if the collar and bridle fitted comfortably as if he had been John Manly over again. When the crupper was let out a hole or two it all fitted well. There was no check-rein, no curb, nothing but a plain ring snaffle. What a blessing that was!

5. (Canada, US) A sidewalk, covered or partially enclosed, bordering the airport terminal road system with adjacent paved areas to permit vehicles to off-load or load passengers.
6. A swelling on the back part of the hind leg of a horse, just behind the lowest part of the hock joint, generally causing lameness.

curb (third-person singular simple present curbs, present participle curbing, simple past and past participle curbed)

1. (transitive) To check, restrain or control.

   Curb your dog

   Synonyms: behedge, curtail, limit; see also Thesaurus:curb

   • 1718, Mat[thew] Prior, “Solomon on the Vanity of the World. A Poem in Three Books.”, in Poems on Several Occasions, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], and John Barber […], OCLC 5634253, (please specify the page):

     Where pinching want must curb her warm desires.

   • 2021 January 13, Dr Joseph Brennan, “Spectacular funiculars”, in RAIL, issue 922, page 53:

     But the village's growth was curbed by the cliffs that restricted onward exploration for visitors, while goods such as coal and lime, which had arrived by water, were being transported up the severe incline to the town of Lynton by horse and cart.

2. (transitive) To rein in.
3. (transitive) To furnish with a curb, as a well; to restrain by a curb, as a bank of earth.
4. (transitive, slang) Ellipsis of curb stomp.
5. (transitive) To bring to a stop beside a curb.
   • 2017, Dean Koontz, The Silent Corner, page 34:

     As had become her habit, Jane rove past her destination and curbed the car on a side street a block and a half away.

6. (transitive) To damage vehicle wheels or tires by running into or over a pavement curb.
7. (transitive) To bend or curve.

   Synonyms: bow, flex, incurvate; see also Thesaurus:bend

   • 1603, Plutarch, “The Third Booke of Philosophers Opinions. Chap. V. Of the Rainbow.”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Philosophie, Commonlie Called, The Morals […], London: […] Arnold Hatfield, OCLC 1051546006, page 828:

     [B]y crooked and curbed lines, wee looke within the water; for our eie ſight doth bend and turne againe perforce, by reason that the matter of the water is more thicke; which is the cauſe, that we ſee the mariners oare in the ſea a farre off, as it were crooked.

8. (intransitive) To crouch; to cringe.

   Synonyms: bend, fawn, stoop

   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene iv]:

     Virtue itself of vice must pardon beg, / Yea, curb and woo for leave to do him good.

• curby
• curvature
• curve
• curvy

• curb in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• curb in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
• curb at OneLook Dictionary Search

From French courbe.

curb m or n (feminine singular curbă, masculine plural curbi, feminine and neuter plural curbe)

1. curve