Learning / English Dictionary

CUR

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

An inferior dog or one of mixed breed

Synonyms:

cur; mongrel; mutt

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("cur" is a kind of...):

Canis familiaris; dog; domestic dog (a member of the genus Canis (probably descended from the common wolf) that has been domesticated by man since prehistoric times; occurs in many breeds)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "cur"):

feist; fice (a nervous belligerent little mongrel dog)

pariah dog; pie-dog; pye-dog (ownerless half-wild mongrel dog common around Asian villages especially India)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A cowardly and despicable person

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("cur" is a kind of...):

coward (a person who shows fear or timidity)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "cur"):

caitiff (a cowardly and despicable person)

Credits

 Context examples: 

A scared man was the keeper; for, having chained the brute to a stake while he drank a stoup of ale at the inn, it had been baited by stray curs, until, in wrath and madness, it had plucked loose the chain, and smitten or bitten all who came in its path.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)