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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

curb.

A concrete margin along the edge of a road; a kerb (UK, Australia, New Zealand).

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/kɝb/General-American/kɜːb/Received-Pronunciation
  1. A concrete margin along the edge of a road; a kerb (UK, Australia, New Zealand).

    US
  2. A raised margin along the edge of something, such as a well or the eye of a dome, as a strengthening.

    US
  3. Something that checks or restrains; a restraint.

    US · figuratively
  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 by means of the crown piece of the bridle and chin groove by means of a curb chain.

    US
  5. 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.

    Canada · US
  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.

    US
Where this word comes from

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

verb/kɝb/General-American/kɜːb/Received-Pronunciation
  1. To check, restrain or control.

    US · transitive
    Curb your dog
  2. To rein in.

    US · transitive
  3. To furnish (a well etc.) with a curb; to restrain (a bank of earth, etc.) by a curb.

    US · transitive
  4. Ellipsis of curb stomp.

    US · abbreviation · alt-of · ellipsis · slang · transitive
  5. To bring to a stop beside a curb.

    US · transitive
  6. To damage vehicle wheels or tires by running into or over a pavement curb.

    US · transitive
  7. To bend or curve.

    US · transitive
  8. To crouch; to cringe.

    US · intransitive
Where this word comes from

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

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.