▪ I. cur
(kɜː(r))
Forms: (3 kur-dogge), 4–6 kurre, 4–7 curre, 7–8 curr, 5– cur.
[ME. curre corresponds to MDu. corre ‘canis villaticus, domesticus’ (Kilian), Sw. and Norw. (widely-spread) dial. kurre, korre ‘dog’, etc. The latter is generally associated with the onomatopœic verb ON. kurra to murmur, grumble, Sw. kurra to grumble, rumble, snarl, Da. kurre to coo, Ger. obs. and dial. kurren to growl, grumble, murmur, coo, cf. gurren to coo, MHG. gürren to bray as an ass. The primary sense appears thus to have been ‘growling or snarling beast’. But no corresponding verb appears in Eng., so that ME. kurre was prob. introduced from some continental source. The combination kur-dogge is met with considerably earlier than the simple kurre, cur. Senses 2 and 3 are possibly independent echoic formations.]
1. A dog: now always depreciative or contemptuous; a worthless, low-bred, or snappish dog. Formerly (and still sometimes dialectally) applied without depreciation, esp. to a watch-dog or shepherd's dog.
| a 1225 [see cur-dog in c]. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. Prol. 396 The lyoun..Hym deynyth nat to wreke hym on a flye, As doth a curre or ellis a-nothir beste. c 1400 Destr. Troy 1972 Brittonet þi body into bare qwarters, And caste vnto curres as caren to ete. 1486 Bk. St. Albans F vj b, A Cowardnes of curris. 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Sept. 182 Neuer had shepheard so kene a kurre. 1598 J. Manwood Forest Lawes xvi. §6 (1615) 112 b, The Mastiues, and such like curres, that are of the Mastiue kinde. 1602 2nd Pt. Return fr. Parnass. ii. v. (Arb.) 30 Dunghill dogges, trindle tailes, prick-eard curres. 1684 R. H. Sch. Recreat. 13 The most Staunch and best Hunting Hounds; (all babling and flying Curs being left at home). 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 536 The Shepherd last appears, And with him..his trusty Cur. 1710 Philips Pastorals iv. 119 Then send our Curs to gather up the Sheep. 1712 Arbuthnot John Bull iii. App. i, I am hunted away..by every barking cur about the house. 1837 W. Irving Capt. Bonneville II. 208 These dogs..were of more use than the beggarly curs of cities. 1884 Cheshire Gloss., Cur, a good, sharp watchdog. The word does not refer, in the least, to low breeding. |
b. fig. As a term of contempt: a surly, ill-bred, low, or cowardly fellow.
| 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. iii. ii. 65 Out dog, out cur, thou driu'st me past the bounds of maidens patience. 1607 ― Cor. i. i. 172 What would you have, you Curres, That like nor Peace, nor Warre? 1711 Addison Spect. No. 57 ¶3, I have heard her, in her Wrath, call a substantial Tradesman a Lousy Cur. 1870 Bryant Iliad I. viii. 263 That I may drive away These curs, brought hither by an evil fate. |
c. Comb. cur-dog in prec. senses. So cur-bitch, cur-fox, cur-tyke; † cur-fish, the Dog-fish. Also cur-like adj.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 290 Þes dogge of helle..þe fule kur dogge. c 1450 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 562/23 Agerarius, a curdogge. 1494 Fabyan Chron. vii. ccxxxi. 263 A mastife or great curre dogge. 1591 Spenser M. Hubberd 294 This Curdog..will serue, my sheepe to gather. 1617 Fletcher Mad Lover iii. ii, Coward go with thy caitiff soul, thou cur-dog! 1727 Hall in Phil. Trans. XXXV. 309 We got three Curr-Dogs. 1859 W. Collins Q. of Hearts (1875) 24 One of the largest and ugliest cur-dogs in England barking at her heels. |
| 1611 Cotgr., Mastine, a Mastiue, or Curre bitch. 1663 Earl of Lauderdale in L. Papers I. 175, I care not three skips of a Curre tyke what can be said or done against me. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Currish, curr-like, doggish, churlish. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) III. 332 The greyhound fox..The mastiff fox..The cur fox is the least and most common. |
† 2. A fish: the Elleck or Red Gurnard, Trigla cuculus.
| 1589 Rider Eng.-Lat. Dict. (1617) E e viij, Fishes. A curre fish, Cuculus. 1598 Florio, Capo..a fish called a cur, a gull, a bulhead, or a millers thumbe. 1661 Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. 194 Curre is a sweet fish, but not the best, it hath much flesh, white, hard and dry. 1753 in Chambers Cycl. Supp. |
3. A species of duck: the Golden-eye, Clangula glaucion. dial.
| 1621–51 Burton Anat. Mel. i. ii. ii. i. 67 Teals, Curs, Sheldrakes..that come hither in winter. 1841 J. T. J. Hewlett Parish Clerk III. 8 Harry drew his attention to a solitary cur—a species of duck more easily approachable than the others. 1885 Swainson Prov. Names Birds 161 Golden-eye..Curre. From the bird's croaking cry. |
▪ II. cur
obs. f. cure; var. of curre.