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cur

Pronunciation: /kɜː/

The English word “cur” has 3 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. A contemptible or inferior dog.
  2. A detestable person.
  3. A sheepdog or watchdog.

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”),…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.