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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Curse \Curse\, verb (used without an object) To utter imprecations or curses; to affirm or deny with imprecations; to swear.
Then began he to curse and to swear. --Matt. xxi. 74.
His spirits hear me, And yet I need must curse. --Shak.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Curse \Curse\, noun [AS. curs. See {Curse}, verb (used with an object)]
1. An invocation of, or prayer for, harm or injury; malediction.
Lady, you know no rules of charity, Which renders good for bad, blessings for curses. --Shak.
2. Evil pronounced or invoked upon another, solemnly, or in passion; subjection to, or sentence of, divine condemnation.
The priest shall write these curses in a book. --Num. v. 23.
Curses, like chickens, come home to roost. --Old Proverb.
3. The cause of great harm, evil, or misfortune; that which brings evil or severe affliction; torment.
The common curse of mankind, folly and ignorance. --Shak.
All that I eat, or drink, or shall beget, Is propagated curse. --Milton.
{The curse of Scotland} (Card Playing), the nine of diamonds.
{Not worth a curse}. See under {Cress}.
Syn: Malediction; imprecation; execration. See {Malediction}.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Curse \Curse\ (k?rs), verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Cursed} (k?rst) or {Curst}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Cursing}.] [AS. cursian, corsian, perh. of Scand. origin; cf. Dan. korse to make the sign of the cross, Sw. korsa, fr. Dan. & Sw. kors cross, Icel kross, all these Scand. words coming fr. OF. crois, croiz, fr. L. crux cross. Cf. {Cross}.]
1. To call upon divine or supernatural power to send injury upon; to imprecate evil upon; to execrate.
Thou shalt not . . . curse the ruler of thy people. --Ex. xxii. 28.
Ere sunset I'll make thee curse the deed. --Shak.
2. To bring great evil upon; to be the cause of serious harm or unhappiness to; to furnish with that which will be a cause of deep trouble; to afflict or injure grievously; to harass or torment.
On impious realms and barbarous kings impose Thy plagues, and curse 'em with such sons as those. --Pope.
{To curse by bell, book, and candle}. See under {Bell}.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
curse
noun
1: profane or obscene expression usually of surprise or anger; "expletives were deleted" [syn: {curse word}, {expletive}, {oath}, {swearing}, {swearword}, {cuss}]
2: an appeal to some supernatural power to inflict evil on someone or some group [syn: {execration}, {condemnation}]
3: an evil spell; "a witch put a curse on his whole family"; "he put the whammy on me" [syn: {hex}, {jinx}, {whammy}]
4: something causes misery or death; "the bane of my life" [syn: {bane}, {scourge}, {nemesis}]
5: a severe affliction [syn: {torment}]
verb
1: utter obscenities or profanities; "The drunken men were cursing loudly in the street" [syn: {cuss}, {blaspheme}, {swear}, {imprecate}]
2: heap obscenities upon; "The taxi driver who felt he didn't get a high enough tip cursed the passenger"
3: wish harm upon; invoke evil upon; "The bad witch cursed the child" [syn: {beshrew}, {damn}, {bedamn}, {anathemize}, {anathemise}, {imprecate}, {maledict}] [ant: {bless}]
4: exclude from a church or a religious community; "The gay priest was excommunicated when he married his partner" [syn: {excommunicate}] [ant: {communicate}] [also: {curst}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
209 Moby Thesaurus words for "curse": Jonah, abuse, accurse, adverse circumstances, adversity, afflict, affliction, aggravation, aggrieve, anathema, anathematize, annoyance, bad influence, bad language, bane, befoul, bewitch, bitter cup, bitter draft, bitter draught, bitter pill, blaspheme, blasphemy, blast, blight, bugbear, bummer, burden, burden of care, calamity, cankerworm of care, cantrip, care, catamenia, catamenial discharge, charm, commination, condemn, confound, corrupt, courses, cross, crown of thorns, crucify, crushing burden, curse and swear, cuss, cuss word, damage, damn, damnation, damning, darn, death, defile, denounce, denunciation, deprave, despoil, destroy, destruction, difficulties, difficulty, dirty name, dirty word, disadvantage, disease, disserve, distress, do a mischief, do evil, do ill, do wrong, do wrong by, doom, downer, dysphemism, dysphemize, enchantment, encumbrance, envenom, epithet, evil, evil eye, evil genius, evil star, excommunicate, execrate, execration, exorcism, expletive, flowers, foul invective, fulminate against, gall, gall and wormwood, get into trouble, glamour, grievance, handicap, harass, hard knocks, hard life, hard lot, hardcase, hardship, harm, hex, hoodoo, hurt, ill wind, impair, imprecate, imprecation, infect, infliction, injure, irritation, jinx, load, magic spell, malediction, malevolent influence, malocchio, maltreat, menace, menses, menstrual discharge, menstruation, misfortune, mistreat, molest, monthlies, naughty word, nemesis, no-no, oath, objurgate, objurgation, obscenity, open wound, oppression, outrage, pack of troubles, peck of troubles, period, periods, persecute, pest, pestilence, plague, play havoc with, play hob with, plight, poison, pollute, predicament, prejudice, pressure, profanation, profane oath, profanity, rigor, running sore, sacrilege, saddle, savage, scathe, scatologize, scourge, sea of troubles, sorrow, spell, stress, stress of life, swear, swear at, swearword, taint, talk dirty, that time, the curse, thorn, threaten, throw a whammy, thunder against, torment, torture, trial, tribulation, trouble, troubles, vale of tears, vexation, vicissitude, vilify, violate, visitation, voodoo, wanga, waters of bitterness, weigh down, weight, weird, whammy, woe, wound, wreak havoc on, wrong
From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:
CURSE, v.t. Energetically to belabor with a verbal slap-stick. This is an operation which in literature, particularly in the drama, is commonly fatal to the victim. Nevertheless, the liability to a cursing is a risk that cuts but a small figure in fixing the rates of life insurance.
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:
Curse denounced by God against the serpent (Gen. 3:14), and against Cain (4:11). These divine maledictions carried their effect with them. Prophetical curses were sometimes pronounced by holy men (Gen. 9:25; 49:7; Deut. 27:15; Josh. 6:26). Such curses are not the consequence of passion or revenge, they are predictions. No one on pain of death shall curse father or mother (Ex. 21:17), nor the prince of his people (22:28), nor the deaf (Lev. 19:14). Cursing God or blaspheming was punishable by death (Lev. 24:10-16). The words "curse God and die" (R.V., "renounce God and die"), used by Job's wife (Job 2:9), have been variously interpreted. Perhaps they simply mean that as nothing but death was expected, God would by this cursing at once interpose and destroy Job, and so put an end to his sufferings.
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