cur
UK /kɜː/ · US /kɝ/ noun
Forms curs
- noun (dated or humorous) A contemptible or inferior dog.
- noun (dated or humorous) A detestable person.
- noun (archaic, dialect) A sheepdog or watchdog.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English curre (“watchdog, small hunting dog, mongrel, mutt”), perhaps of Middle Low German or North Germanic origin, possibly from Old Norse kurr (“grumbling”), itself of imitative origin.
Compare Middle Dutch corre (“domestic dog, yard dog, watch-dog”), dialectal Dutch korre (“dog, yard dog”), dialectal Swedish kurre (“a dog”). Compare also Old Norse kurra (“to growl; grumble”), Middle Low German kurren, korren (“to growl”). Compare also Middle Dutch querie (“female dog, bitch”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A mongrel or inferior dog. They . . . like to village curs, Bark when their fellows do. Shak.
- noun A worthless, snarling fellow; --used in contempt.
Etymology [OE. curre, kur; cf. dial. Sw. kurre dog, OD. korre watchdog, and Icel. kurra to murmur, grumble, Sw. kurra to rumble, croak, Dan. kurre to coo, whirr; prob. of imitative origin.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “cur”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details