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or a set of shelves with doors, where clothes, plates, food etc
can be stored: The sugar's in the cupboard. | Put your shirts
in the airing cupboard. → compare CABINET, CLOSET
'cupboard love n [U] love shown only for the purpose of
gaining a reward, for example by a pet hoping for food
'cup cake n a small round cake baked in a cup-shaped
container
'cup final n BrE (especially in football) the last match to
decide the winning team in a competition → compare CUP
TIE
Cup Final, the in the UK, the final game of the FA CUP
competition, usually played every year at WEMBLEY STADIUM
(=building for sports events, consisting of a playing field
surrounded by rows of seats) in London, and watched by
millions of people on television. The Cup Final has been
played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff while a new
stadium is being built in Wembley. Football in Scotland is
separate from England and Wales, and the Scottish Cup
Final takes place at Hampden Park in Glasgow.
Cu·pid /'kju:pId/ 1 a character based on the Roman god of
sexual love, who was the son of VENUS. Cupid is usually
shown in pictures as a young boy with wings, holding a BOW
and ARROW. His picture is often used on VALENTINE CARD to
represent love. People sometimes say that they have been
hit by Cupid's arrow when they have started to have
romantic feelings for someone 2 play Cupid (to someone)
to try to make two people become romantically involved
with each other: Greg was playing Cupid when he introduced
Paul to Sheila.
cu·pid·i·ty /kju:'pIdIti/ n [U] fml derog very great desire,
especially for money and property; GREED
cu·po·la /'kju:pElE/ n a small DOME on top of a building
cup·pa /'kApE/ n [C usually sing.] BrE infml a cup of tea: I'm dying
for a cuppa.
cu·pric /'kju:prIk/ adj tech containing copper
'cup tie n BrE (especially in football) a match between two
teams competing in a competition → compare CUP FINAL
cur /k3:r/ n old use or humor 1 a fierce dog, especially a MON-
GREL 2 a worthless unpleasant person
cu·ra·ble /'kjUErEbEl/ adj (of a disease) that can be cured —
opposite incurable —bly adv
cu·ra·çao /'kjUErEsEU, ,kjUErE'sEU/ n [U] a strong thick
sweet alcoholic drink, tasting of oranges, usually drunk from
a small glass after a meal
cu·rate /'kjUErEt/ n a priest of the lowest rank, appointed to
help the priest of a PARISH
,curate's 'egg n [S] BrE something that has both good and
bad parts: The play was rather like the curate's egg, and the
good parts of it were excellent.
cu·ra·tive /'kjUErEtIv/ n, adj (something) that cures an ill-
ness: the curative powers of a new drug/the town's special
water
cu·ra·tor /kju'reItEr/ n the person in charge of a MUSEUM
library etc —ship n
curb1 /k3:bl|k3:rb/ n 1 a controlling influence; CHECK: Keep a
curb on your temper. 2 AmE for KERB 3 a length of chain or
leather passing under a horse's jaw and fastened to the BIT
curb2 v [T] to control (something undesirable, such as strong
feelings, wasteful spending etc); RESTRAIN: to curb one's
extravagance/enthusiasm | new efforts to curb drug traffick-
ing
curd /k3:d|k3:rd/ also curds pl. — n [U] the thick soft almost
solid substance that separates from milk when it becomes
sour, eaten as food or used for making cheese → compare
WHEY; see also LEMON CURD
,curd 'cheese /'' . ./ n [U] a smooth sharp-tasting soft
cheese made from the curds of milk
cur·dle /'k3:dl|'k3:rdl/ v [I;T] to (cause to) form into curd;
(cause to) thicken: (fig.) Their screams made my blood curdle
with terror. → see also BLOODCURDLING
cure1 /kjUEr/ v [T] 1 [(of)] to bring health to (a person) in
place of disease or illness: When I left hospital I was com-
pletely cured. | This medicine will cure you of your cough. | (fig.)
A spell in the army will cure him of his laziness! → compare
TREAT 2 to make (a disease, illness etc) go completely away,
especially by medical treatment: The only way to cure back-
ache is to rest. | (fig.) government action to cure unemployment
→ compare HEAL; see TREAT (USAGE) 3 to preserve (food,
skin, tobacco etc) by drying it, hanging it in smoke, cover-
ing it with salt etc: The tobacco leaves are cured in wood-
smoke.
cure2 n 1 [(for)] a medicine that cures an illness, disease etc:
There is still no cure for the common cold. | (fig.) a cure for
inflation/unemployment 2 a return to health after illness:
The new treatment effected a miraculous cure. 3 a course of
medical treatment: to take the cure for alcoholism → see also
REST CURE
cu·ré /'kjUEreI|kju'reI/ n a PARISH priest in France
'cure-all n something that can cure any illness, deal with any
problem etc; PANACEA
cu·ret·tage /kjuE'retIdZ||,kjUErE'ta:Z/ n [U] the removal of
diseased flesh and skin from the body (for example from
inside the WOMB) with a special medical instrument (curette)
cur·few /'k3:fju:|'k3:r-/ n 1 [C] a rule that all people
should remain indoors at stated times: to impose a curfew | a
curfew from midnight to 8 o'clock in the morning 2 [U] the
time during which people must be indoors according to this
rule: We mustn't go out during curfew.
cu·ri·a /'kjUEriE/ n pl. -riae /ri-i:/ [the] (often cap.) the POPE and
the officials helping him in the government of the Roman
Catholic Church
Cu·rie, Ma·rie /'kjUEri, 'ma:ri:|mE'ri:/ (1867–1934) a Polish
scientist, who with her French husband Pierre Curie studied
RADIOACTIVITY and discovered two new RADIOACTIVE sub-
stances, POLONIUM and RADIUM. She won two Nobel prizes,
and was the first woman ever to win one.
cu·ri·o /'kjUEriEU/ n pl. -ios a usually small object, valuable
because of its age, rarity, or beauty
cu·ri·os·i·ty /,kjUEri'QsIti|'a:s-/ n 1 [S,U] the desire to
know or learn: There was (an) intense curiosity about their
wedding plans. | [+to-V] We were burning with curiosity to
know what had happened. 2 [C] a strange or rare object,
custom etc: This old map is quite a curiosity. 3 curiosity
killed the cat saying (a phrase used to someone to tell them
not to be so INQUISITIVE)
cu·ri·ous /'kjUEriEs/ adj 1 [(as to, about)] eager to know or
learn, especially about something unfamiliar or mysterious;
INQUISITIVE: I'm curious about/as to what happened. | The
tourists were surrounded by curious children. | [+to-V] We were
curious to know where she'd gone. → opposite INCURI-
OUS 2 odd or unusual, especially in a way that is hard to
explain: a curious noise/state of affairs | It's curious that she
left without saying goodbye. 3 curioser and curioser quote
a phrase from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis
Carroll, used by Alice when she suddenly grew very tall.
People remember it because we would usually say that
something was even more curious not curioser and so it is
often used humorously → see also ALICE IN WONDERLAND
—ly adv: She watched curiously as I opened the box. | Curi-
ously (enough), we had met before.
curl1 /k3:l|k3:rl/ n 1 a small hanging mass of hair in a
curving shape. Curls are often noticed and remarked on by
people in Britain and the US, and many people curl their hair
artificially, for example using curlers or CURLING TONGS or by
having a PERM: a little boy with beautiful blonde curls →
compare WAVE; see also CURLY 2 something with the shape
of a curl: A curl of smoke rose from her cigarette. | (fig.) a curl
of the lip (=showing SCORN)
curl2 v [I;T(UP)] 1 to twist into or form a curl or curls: I don't
like my hair straight so I'm going to have it curled. | The dying
leaves became brown and curled up. | Smoke curled (=moved
in a SPIRAL) out of the chimney. 2 to (cause to) go in a
winding direction: The climbing plant curled round the trunk
of the tree.
curl up phr v [I] to lie comfortably with the arms and legs
drawn close to the body: She curled up in front of the fire
with a book.
curl·er /'k3:lE|'k3:r-/ n [often pl.] an object around which
hair is twisted to make it curl
CULTURAL NOTE In old books and films, women are often
shown wearing their curlers at bedtime or in the early
morning, and not wanting anyone, especially a man they