5 definitions found

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

curb

noun

1: an edge between a sidewalk and a roadway consisting of a line of curbstones (usually forming part of a gutter) [syn: {curbing}, {kerb}]

2: a horse's bit with an attached chain or strap to check the horse [syn: {curb bit}]

3: a stock exchange in New York [syn: {American Stock Exchange}, {AMEX}]

4: the act of restraining power or action or limiting excess; "his common sense is a bridle to his quick temper" [syn: {bridle}, {check}]

verb

1: lessen the intensity of; temper; hold in restraint; hold or keep within limits; "moderate your alcohol intake"; "hold your tongue"; "hold your temper"; "control your anger" [syn: {control}, {hold in}, {hold}, {contain}, {check}, {moderate}]

2: to put down by force or authority; "suppress a nascent uprising"; "stamp down on littering"; "conquer one's desires" [syn: {suppress}, {stamp down}, {inhibit}, {subdue}, {conquer}]

3: keep to the curb; "curb your dogs"

4: place restrictions on; "curtail drinking in school" [syn: {restrict}, {curtail}, {cut back}]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:

Curb \Curb\ (k[^u]rb), verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Curbed} (k[^u]rbd); p. pr. & vb. n. {Curbing}.] [F. courber to bend, curve, L.curvare, fr. curvus bent, curved; cf. Gr. kyrto's curved. Cf. {Curve}.]

1. To bend or curve. [Obs.]

Crooked and curbed lines. --Holland.

2. To guide and manage, or restrain, as with a curb; to bend to one's will; to subject; to subdue; to restrain; to confine; to keep in check.

Part wield their arms, part curb the foaming steed. --Milton.

Where pinching want must curb thy warm desires. --Prior.

3. To furnish with a curb, as a well; also, to restrain by a curb, as a bank of earth.

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:

Curb \Curb\, verb (used without an object) To bend; to crouch; to cringe. [Obs.]

Virtue itself of vice must pardon beg, Yea, curb and woo for leave to do him good. --Shak.

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:

Curb \Curb\, noun

1. That which curbs, restrains, or subdues; a check or hindrance; esp., a chain or strap attached to the upper part of the branches of a bit, and capable of being drawn tightly against the lower jaw of the horse.

He that before ran in the pastures wild Felt the stiff curb control his angry jaws. --Drayton.

By these men, religion,that should be The curb, is made the spur of tyranny. --Denham.

2. (Arch.) An assemblage of three or more pieces of timber, or a metal member, forming a frame around an opening, and serving to maintain the integrity of that opening; also, a ring of stone serving a similar purpose, as at the eye of a dome.

3. A frame or wall round the mouth of a well; also, a frame within a well to prevent the earth caving in.

4. A curbstone.

5. (Far.) A swelling on the back part of the hind leg of a horse, just behind the lowest part of the hock joint, generally causing lameness. --James Law.

{Curb bit}, a stiff bit having branches by which a leverage is obtained upon the jaws of horse. --Knight.

{Curb pins} (Horology), the pins on the regulator which restrain the hairspring.

{Curb plate} (Arch.), a plate serving the purpose of a curb.

{Deck curb}. See under {Deck}.

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

247 Moby Thesaurus words for "curb": American Stock Exchange, Amex, Tarmac, Tarvia, Wall Street, abstain, arrest, arrestation, asphalt, back band, backpedal, backstrap, backwater, bearing rein, bellyband, bit, bitumen, bituminous macadam, blacktop, blinders, blinds, board, border stone, bottle up, bourse, brake, breeching, brick, bridle, caparison, cavesson, cement, chain, check, checkrein, cheekpiece, chinband, chock, cinch, clip the wings, clog, cobble, cobblestone, collar, commodity exchange, concrete, constrain, constraint, contain, control, cool, cool off, cooling, cooling down, cooling off, corn pit, countercheck, crownband, crupper, curb bit, curb exchange, curb market, curbing, curbstone, curtail, curtailment, dam up, damp, dampen, damper, decelerate, deceleration, delay, detain, dompt, doorstop, drag, drag sail, draw rein, drift anchor, drift sail, drogue, ease off, ease up, edgestone, enjoin, entrammel, exchange, exchange floor, fetter, flag, flagging, flagstone, gag swivel, girth, govern, gravel, guard, hackamore, halter, hames, hametugs, hamper, harness, headgear, headstall, hinder, hindrance, hip straps, hobble, hog-tie, hold, hold at bay, hold back, hold down, hold fast, hold in, hold in check, hold in leash, hold up, holdback, impede, inhibit, inhibition, injunction, intercept, interdict, interfere, intermeddle, interrupt, intervene, jaquima, jerk line, keep, keep back, keep from, keep in, keep in check, keep under control, kerb, kerbstone, lay under restraint, leash, legal restraint, let down, let up, lines, lose ground, lose momentum, lose speed, macadam, manacle, martingale, meddle, moderate, monopoly, noseband, obstruct, oppose, outside market, over-the-counter market, pavement, pavestone, paving, paving stone, pelham, pit, pole strap, prohibit, prohibition, protection, protectionism, protective tariff, pull, pull in, quotation board, rationing, reef, refrain, rein, rein in, reins, relax, remora, repress, resist, restrain, restraint, restraint of trade, retard, retardation, retrench, retrenchment, ribbons, road metal, saddle, scotch, sea anchor, self-control, set back, shackle, shaft tug, side check, slack off, slack up, slacken, slow, slow down, slow up, slowing down, snaffle, snub, spoke, stay, stock exchange, stock market, stock ticker, stone, stop, straiten, subdue, suppress, surcingle, tack, tackle, take in sail, tariff wall, tarmacadam, telephone market, the Big Board, the Exchange, third market, thought control, throttle down, ticker, ticker tape, tie, tie up, tile, trammel, trappings, tug, washboard, wheat pit, winker braces, withhold, yoke

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