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# cur

«cur» in Mova's school dictionary: **a dog of no special breed, especially a bad-tempered or…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (a cur, curs)

### meaning for a pupil

1) (old) A cur is a dog of no special breed, especially a bad-tempered or dirty one. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cur/#m1)

2) (old, insulting) Calling a man a cur means he is mean, cowardly or worthless. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cur/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In old stories and Shakespeare-free classics, curs are snapping village dogs, and «You cur!» is a hero's insult to a villain. In The Wind in the Willows and Alice, old-fashioned insults like this make the speech sound grand or angry. In Alice, the Mouse's tale tells of a dog called Fury who is like a cruel cur.

### examples

- A mangy cur barked at the beggar. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cur/#x1)
- «Out of my way, you cowardly cur!» [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cur/#x2)
- The village curs chased the cart. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cur/#x3)
- The cur snarled and showed its teeth. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cur/#x4)
- Only a cur would hit someone smaller. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cur/#x5)
- Fury, the dog in the Mouse's tale, acts as judge and jury. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cur/#x6)

### note

Countable: curs. Old-fashioned; today «mongrel» (mixed-breed dog). As an insult it is rude. Sounds like «cur» in «curtain» (rhymes with «fur»).

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «cur» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/cur/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.