different between curb vs diminish

English

Alternative forms

• kerb (British) (noun, and verb senses 3, 4 and 5 only)

Etymology

From Middle French courbe (“curve, curved object”), from Latin curvus (“bent, crooked, curved”). Doublet of curve.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /k?b/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /k??b/
• Rhymes: -??(?)b
• Homophone: kerb

Noun

curb (plural curbs)

1. (American spelling, Canadian spelling) A concrete margin along the edge of a road; a kerb (UK, Australia, New Zealand)
2. A raised margin along the edge of something, such as a well or the eye of a dome, as a strengthening.
3. Something that checks or restrains; a restraint.
   • 1641, John Denham, The Sophy

     Even by these Men, Religion, that should be / The Curb, is made the Spur to Tyranny.
4. A riding or driving bit for a horse that has rein action which amplifies the pressure in the mouth by leverage advantage placing pressure on the poll via the crown piece of the bridle and chin groove via a curb chain.
   • 1605, Michael Drayton, The Fourth Eclogue

     He that before ran in the pastures wild / Felt the stiff curb controul his angry jaws.

5. (Canada, US) A sidewalk, covered or partially enclosed, bordering the airport terminal road system with adjacent paved areas to permit vehicles to off-load or load passengers.
6. 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.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

curb (third-person singular simple present curbs, present participle curbing, simple past and past participle curbed)

1. (transitive) To check, restrain or control.
   • 1718, Matthew Prior, Solomon on the Vanity of the World

     Where pinching want must curb her warm desires.
2. (transitive) To rein in.
3. (transitive) To furnish with a curb, as a well; to restrain by a curb, as a bank of earth.
4. (transitive, slang) Ellipsis of curb stomp.
5. (transitive) To bring to a stop beside a curb.
6. (transitive) To damage vehicle wheels or tires by running into or over a pavement curb.
7. (transitive) To bend or curve.
   • 1603, Philemon Holland (translator), The Philosophie, commonly called, the Morals (originally by Plutarch)

     crooked and curbed lines

8. (intransitive) To crouch; to cringe.

Synonyms

• (check, restrain, control): behedge, curtail, limit; See also Thesaurus:curb
• (rein in):
• (furnish with a curb):
• (force to hit the curb): curb stomp
• (damage wheels on a curb):
• (bend or curve): bow, flex, incurvate; See also Thesaurus:bend
• (crouch or cringe): bend, fawn, stoop

Translations

Related terms

• curvaceous
• curvature
• curve
• curvy

Further reading

• curb in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• curb in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• curb at OneLook Dictionary Search

Romanian

Etymology

From French courbe.

Adjective

curb m or n (feminine singular curb?, masculine plural curbi, feminine and neuter plural curbe)

1. curve

Declension

English

Etymology

Formed under the influence of both diminue (from Old French diminuer, from Latin d?minuo) and minish.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d??m?n??/

Verb

diminish (third-person singular simple present diminishes, present participle diminishing, simple past and past participle diminished)

1. (transitive) To make smaller.
2. (intransitive) To become smaller.
3. (transitive) To lessen the authority or dignity of; to put down; to degrade; to abase; to weaken; to nerf (in gaming).
   • 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Ezekiel 29:15,^[1]

     It shall be the basest of the kingdoms; neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations: for I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations.

   • 1639, Ralph Robinson (translator), Utopia by Thomas More, London, Book 2, “Of their journying or travelling abroad,” p. 197,^[2]

     […] this doth nothing diminish their opinion.

   • 1674, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 4, lines 32-35,^[3]

     O thou, that, with surpassing glory crowned,

     Lookest from thy sole dominion like the God

     Of this new world; at whose sight all the stars

     Hide their diminished heads; to thee I call,

   • 1961, V. S. Naipaul, A House for Mr Biswas, London: André Deutsch, Chapter 3,

     In Seth’s presence Mr Biswas felt diminished. Everything about Seth was overpowering: his calm manner, his smooth grey hair, his ivory holder, his hard swollen forearms […]

4. (intransitive) To taper.
   • 1853, Elizabeth Gaskell, Cranford, London: J.M. Dent, 1904, Chapter 8, p. 120,^[4]

     The chair and table legs diminished as they neared the ground, and were straight and square in all their corners.

5. (intransitive) To disappear gradually.
   • 1948, Graham Greene, The Heart of the Matter, Penguin, 1971, Part Two, Chapter 2, 1, p. 77,^[5]

     ‘Good evening, good evening,’ Father Rank called. His stride lengthened and he caught a foot in his soutane and stumbled as he went by. ‘A storm’s coming up,’ he said. ‘Got to hurry,’ and his ‘ho, ho, ho’ diminished mournfully along the railway track, bringing no comfort to anyone.

6. (transitive) To take away; to subtract.
   • 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Deuteronomy 4:2,^[6]

     Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.

Antonyms

• improve, repair, renovate

Derived terms

• diminishment
• law of diminishing returns

Related terms

• diminution

Translations

Anagrams

• minidish