curled, ppl. a.
(kɜːld, poet. ˈkɜːlɪd)
Forms: α. 4 crollid, 5 crulled, 6 crouled; β. 5 curlyd, 6 corlde, 6–7 curld, 6– curled.
[f. curl v. and n. + -ed. (No other part of the vb. is found so early.)]
1. Formed into curls or ringlets, as hair.
| c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 1354 Þat other wyþ þe crollid her..þat ys Berard. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 111 Curlyd, as here, crispus. 1496 Dives & Paup. (W. de W.) i. viii. 39/1 They be paynted with crulled here. 1553 Eden Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.) 23 The heare of theyr heades is merueylouslye corlde. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. iv. 14 Some frounce their curled heare in courtly guise. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) II. 88 So curled hair is generally regarded among us as a beauty. 1842 J. Bischoff Woollen Manuf. II. 296 The wool..short and somewhat curled. |
2. Having or adorned with curls or ringlets; curly. Also fig.
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. iii. viii. 7 Her curled head. 1604 Shakes. Oth. i. ii. 68 The wealthy curled Deareling of our Nation. 1692 O. Walker Greek & Rom. Hist. Illustr. 291 He was not so curled, nor so flat nosed. 1791 Cowper Odyss. xix. 307 His visage swarthy, curl'd His poll. 1841–4 Emerson Ess., Nature Wks. (Bohn) I. 229 The smoothest curled courtier in the boudoirs of a palace. |
3. a. Bent into or towards a spiral form; disposed in more or less spiral convolutions.
| 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. ii. (1586) 109 The knobbes [of the maple]..hath the fairer and the more courled graine. 1611 Heywood Gold. Age i. Wks. 1874 III. 5 Made Neptunes Trident calme the curled waues. 1875 Darwin Insectiv. Pl. iv. 72 The pedicels of these glands were spirally curled. 1881 Besant & Rice Chapl. of Fleet i. viii, Old men..lay with curled-up limbs, shaking with cold. |
b. Of leaves: Having a much waved edge or surface. transf. Of plants: Having curled leaves.
| 1626 Bacon Sylva §651 Plants that have curled Leaves, do all abound with moisture. 1796 Withering Brit. Plants III. 360 Leaves slender, curled. 1861 Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. III. 261 A variety of this herb..called Curled Tansy. 1882 Vines Sachs' Bot. 924 The Savoy with its curled blistered leaves. Mod. A row of Curled Parsley. |
c. Of wood: having a wavy or curly grain. Chiefly in curled maple (see maple 2).
| 1778 in Pennsylvania Archives (1907) 6th Ser. XII. 860 A Curl'd maple Teatable. 1813 H. Muhlenberg Catal. Plants 84 (Alnus undulata or crispata) Waved alder or curled alder. 1855 Trans. Mich. Agric. Soc. VI. 528 Much of this [maple] timber is curled and some bird's-eyed. 1911 Encycl. Brit. XVII. 664/2 The most constant use of curled maple is for the stocks of fowling-pieces and rifles. |
4. Of potatoes: Affected with curl (n. 4).
| 1788 Trans. Soc. Encourag. Arts VI. p. xiii, That disease in Potatoes, called the curled Potatoe. 1796 Hull Advertiser 3 Sept. 2/2 That fatal disease so incident to..the Potatoe, known by the appellation of the ‘Curled Top’. 1845 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. VI. i. 164 Curled potatoes ripen early, some weeks before the healthy plants. |
5. Comb., as curled-horned adj.; † curled-head, † curled-pate adjs., curly-headed.
| 1607 Shakes. Timon iv. iii. 160 Make curld' pate Ruffians bald. c 1611 Chapman Iliad ii. 380 The curl'd head Greeks. 1826 Cobbett Rur. Rides (1885) II. 193 Fine curled-horned and long-tailed ewes. |
Hence ˈcurledness, curled state or quality.
| 1530 Palsgr. 211/2 Curlydnesse of ones heer, crespure. 1615 Crooke Body of Man 68 The haires..do vary in..length and shortnesse, streightnesse and curlednesse. |