different between curl vs forelock

English

Etymology

From metathesis of Middle English crulle (“curled, curly”), from Middle Dutch crul, crulle (“curl”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *kruzl? (“bent or crooked object, curl”), of unknown origin.

Cognate with Saterland Frisian Krulle (“curl, lock”), West Frisian krul (“curl”), Dutch krul (“curl”), German Low German Krull (“curl”), dialectal German Krolle (“curl”), Danish krølle (“curl”), Norwegian krull (“curl”). Related also to Saterland Frisian Kruus (“curl”), German kraus (“frizzy, crumpled, curly”), Swedish krusa (“to crimp, curl”). Compare also Gothic ???????????????????????????????? (kriustan, “to grind, crush, gnash”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /k??l/
• (US) IPA^(key): /k?l/
• Rhymes: -??(?)l

Noun

curl (plural curls)

1. A piece or lock of curling hair; a ringlet.
2. A curved stroke or shape.
   • 1995, John Curtis, Julian Reade, & Dominique Collon, Art and Empire: Treasures from Assyria in the British Museum, page 184:

     […] the backs of their necks and their forelegs are decorated with curls and their necks and bodies are covered with fine, undulating lines.

3. A spin making the trajectory of an object curve.
   • 1909, Harold Horsfall Hilton, The Six Handicap Golfer's Companion^[2], page 38:

     It is possible to use the wind which blows from the left to the right by playing well into the wind with the slightest bit of curl on the ball […]

4. (curling) Movement of a moving rock away from a straight line.
5. (weightlifting) Any exercise performed by bending the arm, wrist, or leg on the exertion against resistance, especially those that train the biceps.
   • 2007 (Jan/Feb), Jon Crosby, "Your Winter Muscle Makeover", Men's Health, page 54:

     Now do a curl and an overhead press, keeping your palms facing in.

6. (calculus) The vector field denoting the rotationality of a given vector field.

7. (calculus, proper noun) The vector operator, denoted ${\displaystyle {\rm {{curl}\;}}}$ or ${\displaystyle {\vec {\nabla }}\times {\vec {\left(\cdot \right)}}}$, that generates this field.
8. (agriculture) Any of various diseases of plants causing the leaves or shoots to curl up; often specifically the potato curl.
9. (music, chiefly lutherie) The contrasting light and dark figure seen in wood used for stringed instrument making; the flame.

10. (American football) A pattern where the receiver appears to be running a fly pattern but after a set number of steps or yards quickly stops and turns around, looking for a pass.

Synonyms

• (lock of curling hair): ringlet
• (curved stroke or shape): curlicue, curve, flourish, loop, spiral

Antonyms

• (weightlifting exercise): extension

Coordinate terms

• (calculus): gradient, divergence, rotational

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

curl (third-person singular simple present curls, present participle curling, simple past and past participle curled)

1. (transitive) To cause to move in a curve.
2. (transitive) To make into a curl or spiral.
3. (intransitive) To assume the shape of a curl or spiral.
4. (intransitive) To move in curves.
5. (intransitive, curling) To take part in the sport of curling.

6. (transitive, weightlifting) To exercise by bending the arm, wrist, or leg on the exertion against resistance, especially of the biceps.
7. To twist or form (the hair, etc.) into ringlets.
   • There was also hairdressing: hairdressing, too, really was hairdressing in those times — no running a comb through it and that was that. It was curled, frizzed, waved, put in curlers overnight, waved with hot tongs; […].

8. To deck with, or as if with, curls; to ornament.
   • 1633, George Herbert, Jordan

     Curling with metaphors a plain intention.

9. To raise in waves or undulations; to ripple.

   • Seas would be pools without the brushing air / To curl the waves.

10. (hat-making) To shape (the brim of a hat) into a curve.

Synonyms

• (to make into a curl or spiral): arch, coil, roll up
• (to assume the shape of a curl or spiral): coil, roll up
• (to move in curves): curve, spiral

Antonyms

• (to make into a curl or spiral): straighten, uncoil, unroll
• (to assume the shape of a curl or spiral): straighten, uncoil, unroll

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• coil

References

• Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English *forelock, *forelok, from Old English forelocc, equivalent to fore- +? lock.

Noun

forelock (plural forelocks)

1. The part of a person's hairstyle which covers the forehead.
   • 1674, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book IV, lines 300-303, [1]

     His fair large front and eye sublime declared / Absolute rule; and hyacinthine locks / Round from his parted forelock manly hung / Clustering, but not beneath his shoulders broad:

   • 1734, The Koran: Commonly Called the Alkoran of Mohammed, translated by George Sale, Sura 96, Congealed Blood, [2]

     Doth he not know that GOD seeth? / Assuredly. Verily, if he forbear not, we will drag him by the forelock, / the lying, sinful forelock. / And let him call his council to assistance: / we also will call the infernal guards to cast him into hell.

   • 1896, A. E. Housman, A Shropshire Lad, XXXVIII, [3]

     Warm with the blood of lads I know / Comes east the sighing air. / / It fanned their temples, filled their lungs, / Scattered their forelocks free;

   • 1978, Edmund White, Nocturnes for the King of Naples, New York: St. Martin's Press, Chapter VIII, p. 135,

     This little boy, still flicking his head to one side between sentences though the long blond forelock that once excused the tic had been cut […]

2. The part of a horse's (or similar animal's) mane that lies on its forehead.
   • 1898, Ivan Turgenev, in A Lear of the Steppes and Other Stories, translated by Constance Garnett, New York: Macmillan: 1898, p. 146, [4]

     […] the gates themselves slowly parted, there appeared a large horse's head, with a plaited forelock under a decorated yoke, and slowly there rolled into the road a small cart, like those driven by horse-dealers, and higglers.

Synonyms

• (part of hairstyle): bangs (US), fringe (UK)
• (part of horse's mane): foretop

Derived terms

• forelocked
• forelocking
• take time by the forelock
• tug one's forelock

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English forelok, equivalent to fore- +? lock.

Noun

forelock (plural forelocks)

1. A wedge pushed through a hole at the end of a bolt to hold it in place.

Verb

forelock (third-person singular simple present forelocks, present participle forelocking, simple past and past participle forelocked)

1. To fix in place with a forelock (wedge)