curry
2
[ kur-ee, kuhr-ee ]
/ ˈkɜr i, ˈkʌr i /
verb (used with object), cur·ried, cur·ry·ing.
to rub and clean (a horse) with a currycomb.
to dress (tanned hides) by soaking, scraping, beating, coloring, etc.
to beat; thrash.
Idioms for curry
curry favor,
to seek to advance oneself through flattery or fawning: His fellow workers despised him for currying favor with the boss.
Origin of curry
2
1250–1300; Middle English
cor(r)ayen, cor(r)eyen < Anglo-French
curreier, cognate with Old French
correer, earlier
conreer to make ready < Vulgar Latin
*conrēdāre; see
corody
Words nearby curry
currier,
currier and ives,
curriery,
currijong,
currish,
curry,
curry favor,
curry leaf,
curry powder,
curry puff,
currycomb
British Dictionary definitions for curry favor (1 of 3)
curry
1
/ (ˈkʌrɪ) /
noun plural -ries
a spicy dish of oriental, esp Indian, origin that is made in many ways but usually consists of meat or fish prepared in a hot piquant sauce
curry seasoning or sauce
give someone curry Australian slang
to assault (a person) verbally or physically
verb -ries, -rying or -ried
(tr)
to prepare (food) with curry powder or sauce
Word Origin for curry
C16: from Tamil
kari sauce, relish
British Dictionary definitions for curry favor (2 of 3)
curry
2
/ (ˈkʌrɪ) /
verb -ries, -rying or -ried (tr)
to beat vigorously, as in order to clean
to dress and finish (leather) after it has been tanned to make it strong, flexible, and waterproof
to groom (a horse)
curry favour
to ingratiate oneself, esp with superiors
Word Origin for curry
C13: from Old French
correer to make ready, from Vulgar Latin
conrēdāre (unattested), from
rēdāre (unattested) to provide, of Germanic origin
British Dictionary definitions for curry favor (3 of 3)
Curry
/ (ˈkʌrɪ) /
noun
John (Anthony). 1949–94, British ice skater: won the figure-skating gold medal in the 1976 Olympic Games
Cultural definitions for curry favor
curry favor
“Currying favor” with someone means trying to ingratiate oneself by fawning over that person: “The ambassador curried favor with the dictator by praising his construction projects.”
Idioms and Phrases with curry favor
curry favor
Seek gain or advancement by fawning or flattery, as in Edith was famous for currying favor with her teachers. This expression originally came from the Old French estriller fauvel, “curry the fallow horse,” a beast that in a 14th-century allegory stood for duplicity and cunning. It came into English about 1400 as curry favel—that is, curry (groom with a currycomb) the animal—and in the 1500s became the present term.