different between twine vs curl

English

Alternative forms

• twyne (obsolete)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /twa?n/
• Rhymes: -a?n

Etymology 1

From Middle English twine, twyne, twin, from Old English tw?n (“double thread, twist, twine, linen-thread, linen”), from Proto-West Germanic *twi?n (“thread, twine”), from Proto-Indo-European *dwisnós (“double”), from *dwóh? (“two”).

Noun

twine (countable and uncountable, plural twines)

1. A twist; a convolution.
2. A strong thread composed of two or three smaller threads or strands twisted together, and used for various purposes, as for binding small parcels, making nets, and the like; a small cord or string.
3. The act of twining or winding round.
4. Intimate and suggestive dance gyrations.
   • 1965, Wilson Pickett, Don't Fight It (blues song), BMI Music.

     The way you jerk, the way you do the twine / You're too much, baby; I'd like to make you mine [...]

Coordinate terms

• (threads or strands twisted together): sinew

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English twinen, twynen, from Old English *tw?nian (“to twine, thread”), from Proto-Germanic *twizn?n? (“to thread”), from Proto-Indo-European *dwisnós (“double”), from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh? (“two”). Cognate with Dutch twijnen (“to twine, contort, throw”), Danish tvinde (“to twist”), Swedish tvinna (“to twist, twine, throw”), Icelandic tvinna (“to merge, twine”).

Verb

twine (third-person singular simple present twines, present participle twining, simple past and past participle twined)

1. (transitive) To weave together.
2. (transitive) To wind, as one thread around another, or as any flexible substance around another body.
   • c. 1607, William Shakespeare, Coriolanus, Act IV, Scene 5,^[1]

     Let me twine

     Mine arms about that body […]

   • 1931, Dashiell Hammett, The Glass Key, New York: Vintage, 1972, Chapter 10, p. 199,^[2]

     She was twining her fingers together.

3. (transitive) To wind about; to embrace; to entwine.
   • 1712, Alexander Pope, The Rape of the Lock, Canto III,^[3]

     “Let wreaths of triumph now my temples twine,”

     The victor cried, “the glorious prize is mine! […] ”

4. (intransitive) To mutually twist together; to become mutually involved; to intertwine.
   • 1941, Emily Carr, Klee Wyck, Chapter 1,^[4]

     Usually some old crone was squatted on the earth floor, weaving cedar fibre or tatters of old cloth into a mat, her claw-like fingers twining in and out, in and out, among the strands that were fastened to a crude frame of sticks.

5. (intransitive) To wind; to bend; to make turns; to meander.
   • 1713, Jonathan Swift, Cadenus and Vanessa,^[5]

     As rivers, though they bend and twine,

     Still to the sea their course incline:

6. (intransitive) To ascend in spiral lines about a support; to climb spirally.

   Many plants twine.

7. (obsolete) To turn round; to revolve.
   • 1598, George Chapman, Hero and Leander

     dancers twine midst cedar-fragrant glades

8. (obsolete) To change the direction of.
   • 1600, Torquato Tasso, Jerusalem Delivered (1581), translated by Edward Fairfax, Book 20, Stanza 38,^[6]

     For where he turned his sword, or twined his steed,

     He slew, or man and beast on earth down laid,

9. (obsolete) To mingle; to mix.
   • 1646, Richard Crashaw, “M. Crashaw’s Answer for Hope,” lines 29-30,^[7]

     As lumpes of sugar loose themselues, and twine

     Their subtile essence with the soul of wine.

Derived terms

• entwine
• intertwine

Translations

Etymology 3

Verb

twine (third-person singular simple present twines, present participle twining, simple past and past participle twined)

1. Alternative form of twin (“to separate”)

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.