curl
/kɜɹl/noun, verb
curl is spelled C-U-R-L: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 3.3 times per million words in written English, the 14,509th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, curl means “A curving piece or lock of hair; a ringlet” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of curl is curls.
How many letters and syllables are in curl?
| Letters | 4: C-U-R-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.3 times per million words; the 14,509th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is curl?
Curl appears 3.3 times per million words in written English, the 14,509th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce curl?
- UK /kɜːl/
- UK [kʰəːɫ]
- US /kɜɹl/
Curl has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-curl.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with curl?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as curl from its last stressed vowel (/ɜɹl/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of curl
- curls plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- curling participle, present
- curled participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does curl mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A curving piece or lock of hair; a ringlet.
My hair doesn't have much curl.
- 2
A curved stroke or shape.
- 3
A spin making the trajectory of an object curve.
- 4
Movement of a moving rock away from a straight line.
- 5
Any exercise performed by bending the arm, wrist, or leg on the exertion against resistance, especially those that train the biceps.
Now do a curl and an overhead press, keeping your palms facing in.
- 6
The vector field denoting the rotationality of a given vector field.
The curl of the vector field #92;vec#123;F#125;(x,y,z) is the vector field #92;operatorname#123;curl#125;#92;,#92;vec#123;F#125;#92;equiv#92;vec#123;#92;nabla#125;#92;times#92;vec#123;F#125;#61;#92;left(#92;frac#123;#92;partialF#95;z#125;#1
- 7
The vector operator, denoted rm curl; or ⃑∇×⃑(·), that generates this field.
- 8
Any of various diseases of plants causing the leaves or shoots to curl up; often specifically the potato curl.
verb
- 1
To cause to move in a curve.
- 2
To make into a curl or spiral.
- 3
To assume the shape of a curl or spiral.
- 4
To move in curves.
- 5
To take part in the sport of curling.
I curl at my local club every weekend.
- 6
To exercise by bending the arm, wrist, or leg on the exertion against resistance, especially of the biceps.
- 7
To twist or form (the hair, etc.) into ringlets.
- 8
To deck with, or as if with, curls; to ornament.
noun
- 1
Ellipsis of American Curl.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Curl in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | boucle , courbe , effet , rotation , curl |
| German | Locke |
| Portuguese | cacho, caracol , rotacional , encaracolar |
| Spanish | rizo, bucle , curva , efecto, comba |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does curl come from?
From metathesis of Middle English crulle (“curled, curly”), of uncertain origin but probably from an unrecorded Old English word or from Middle Dutch crul, crulle (“curl”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *kruzlǭ (“bent or crooked object, curl”), connected to *krūsą (“curl”), of unknown origin.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).