What does curl mean?
Curl refers both to a shape and to an action: anything wound or bent into a rounded, spiral form, most familiarly a ringlet of hair. As a verb, it describes forming such a curve — hair curls, smoke curls upward, paper curls at the edges — or taking on a coiled posture, as when a person curls up under a blanket. The word carries warm, tactile connotations: curly hair suggests softness and texture, while curling up evokes comfort and rest. It can also signal emotional reactions, as in hair curling in fear or toes curling at embarrassment. Derived forms include curly, curled, curler, and curling. Versatile and concrete, curl bridges physical description and expressive gesture, making it one of those rare English words equally at home in a salon, a weather report about wind-blown waves, and a cozy scene in fiction.
A lock of hair growing or arranged in a spiral or wave; also, anything shaped like a coil or curve.
"His hair was a mop of tight brown curls."
To form into a curved or spiral shape, or to wind and twist; to assume a coiled position.
"Smoke curled lazily from the chimney."
Standard plural; used chiefly of multiple locks of hair or multiple coiled shapes.
"Her long curls caught the light as she turned."
The sport of curling gets its name from the low rumbling 'roar' of the granite stones — but the word curl itself likely comes from the same Germanic root that gave us crullers, those twisted fried doughnuts.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of curl
The word curl appeared in English in the early 17th century, borrowed from Dutch 'krul' (or a related Low German form), which traces back to a Germanic root meaning something twisted or curled. This same root gave rise to the American cruller, a twisted fried pastry. Despite its resemblance to Latin-derived words like 'circular', curl has no connection to them — its lineage is firmly Germanic, arriving in English through the coastal trade languages of northern Europe.
Related word forms
How curl is actually used
Curl is neutral in register and common in everyday speech. The verb 'curl up' strongly connotes comfort and coziness, while the idiom 'make your toes curl' can describe either pleasure or acute embarrassment. In computing contexts, the command-line tool named curl is unrelated in origin and always written lowercase.
Easily confused with curl
A churl is a rude or ill-bred person, while a curl is a coil of hair or a curved shape — the words sound similar but are unrelated.