curse

Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Medical, Legal, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

curse the day (one) was born

1. Of oneself, to regret having ever existed, as due to some extreme suffering one is or will be experiencing. Basic training in the military is so hard that you'll often find yourself cursing the day you were born. She was so embarrassed by the event that she cursed the day she was born.

2. To detest someone to such a degree as to wish they had never existed. You're just a horrible, selfish pig, and I curse the day you were born!

curse (someone or something) under (one's) breath

To say threatening, consternated, or disgruntled remarks (toward someone or something) in a very soft or indistinct voice, such that no one else can hear or understand them clearly. "You'll get what's coming to you one of these days," Janet cursed under her breath. Steven stormed off to his room, cursing his parents under his breath. My dad spent nearly an hour trying to fix the engine on the side of the road, cursing the broken-down truck under his breath the whole time.

curse a blue streak

To use profane language with great rapidity and intensity. My dad cursed a blue streak after he found out I'd put a dent in his car.

curse (someone) under (one's) breath

To murmur something in such a soft, quiet voice that others cannot hear it distinctly. (Said especially of rude, unpleasant, complaining, or impertinent remarks.) I could hear Bill cursing the boss under his breath as he walked back to his desk after his annual review. If you curse under your breath around me again, I'll tan your hide so quick it will smart for a week!

curses, like chickens, come home to roost

One's previous actions will eventually have consequences or cause problems. Aw man, I knew not handing in my homework would be a problem eventually. Curses, like chickens, come home to roost, after all. I'd be careful before making any rash decisions—you know that curses, like chickens, come home to roost.

curse (someone or oneself) for (something)

1. To call evil upon one for something they have done. If he ever mistreats my daughter, I will certainly curse him for it.

2. To criticize oneself. In this usage, a reflexive pronoun is used between "curse" and "for." As I sat in the traffic jam, I cursed myself for not leaving the house earlier.

See also: curse

curse at (someone or something)

To use profane language when speaking to someone or something. I cursed at the driver that nearly backed into my car. My dad cursed at the TV when his favorite team allowed a goal in overtime.

See also: curse

curse with (something)

1. To call evil upon one. A noun or pronoun can be used between "curse" and "with." I cursed him with every illness I could think of when I heard how he had mistreated my daughter.

2. To have a particular problem or affliction. A noun or pronoun can be used between "curse" and "with." I've been cursed with an excellent memory because I can remember every insult or wrong that has ever been done to me.

See also: curse

not give a tinker's curse

rude slang To not care about, or have any interest in, someone or something. Primarily heard in UK, Australia. Fred does not give a tinker's curse about what anyone else thinks of him.

curse at someone or something

to swear at someone or something; to use foul language at someone or something. He cursed at the jammed toaster and pounded his fist on the counter in anger. Please don't curse at me.

See also: curse

curse someone for something

to damn someone for doing something; to invoke evil upon someone for doing something. She cursed her mother for ever having borne her. Over and over, she cursed herself for ever having come there.

See also: curse

curse someone or something with something

1. to damn someone or something with something, especially a verbal curse. She cursed him with the fervent wish that he rot in hell. She cursed the day he was born with an unprintable oath.

2. to afflict or oppress someone or something with something. His upbringing cursed him with a strong sense of guilt. The political scandal cursed the town with a dismal reputation for years.

See also: curse

*under one's breath

Fig. [spoken] so softly that almost no one can hear it. (*Typically: curse ~; curse some-one or something ~; mutter ~; mutter something ~; say something ~.) John was muttering something under his breath, and I don't think it was very pleasant. I'm glad he said it under his breath. If he had said it out loud, it would have caused an argument.

not give (or care) a tinker's curse (or cuss or damn)

not care at all. informal

In former times, tinkers (itinerant menders of pots, pans, and other metal utensils) had a reputation for using bad language. The expression is often shortened to not give a tinker's .

1984 Patrick O'Brian The Far Side of the World When I was a squeaker nobody gave a tinker's curse whether my daily workings were right or wrong.

the curse

n. the menses. The curse struck this morning.

See also: curse

References in periodicals archive ?

I was well into my third decade of bowhunting elk, and still in denial that I was living under a curse.

The curse of the wapiti: every Bowhunter knows, or should, that failure is never a good reason to quit trying

Whether the last two always imply a curse or, respectively, a punishment by divine beings in case of an infringement, as Kitz claims, is doubtful.

Cursed Are You! The Phenomenology of Cursing in Cuneiform and Hebrew Texts

And because Shakespeare's Curse is largely untethered from the considerable scholarship generated by these plays, it is also difficult to discern the broader impact of Quiring's innovation for early modern literary studies.

Bjorn Quiring. Shakespeare's Curse: The Aporias of Ritual Exclusion in Early Modern Royal Drama

Curse of the Kennedys Thought to have begun with the assassination of President JFK in 1963.

The hex factor... As Pompeii relic thieves are hit by bad fortune, we look at other spine-chilling 'curses'

Sweeping her grandson, Themba, up in her rage, she weaves a powerful curse, ensuring that the team will never have an international victory.

The Curse and the Cup

First, those fans who believed in luck and magic tended to believe in the Curse of the Bambino; second, those with a high sense of baseball fandom (regardless of beliefs in mysticism or team identification with the Red Sox) also reported increasing belief in the curse.

Curse of the Billy Goat: an adaptive coping strategy for Cubs fans

He further explained that the circles who misinterpreted the curse and manipulated it have no good intention in making such manipulative interpretations of GE-len's speech, accusing them of attempting to create hatred towards the scholar and the Hizmet movement he inspired.

GE-len's curse was misquoted, misinterpreted, GYV chief says

That, along with whether Babylas was actually "weighed down with illness and useless wherever he will be," as the curse implored, remains a mystery.

A 1,700-year-old curse

In the book of Genesis (9:20-28), Noah, apparently shamed by his son Ham, laid a curse on Ham's son Canaan, condemning Canaan to servitude.

The Curse of Ham in the Early Modern Era: The Bible and the Justifications for Slavery

Julie, who lives in the village of Welton, near Carlisle, said: "I was utterly amazed that this curse had been made on the Reivers and the superstitions that had grown up in Carlisle about the Cursing Stone.

Organisers curse luck after festivals cancelled; TONY HENDERSON on the curse of the cancelled festivals

The epicenter of the curse begins as Sianis purchases a ticket for himself and his goat, the mascot of his bar, to watch Game 4 of the 1945 World Series.

The Billy Goat Curse: Losing and Superstition in Cubs Baseball Since World War II

Researchers have also examined curses plaguing archeological projects at various locations, such as the Mummy's Curse of King Tut's Tomb (Rompalske, 2000; Soren, 2000).

Sport team identification and belief in team curses: the case of the Boston Red Sox and the Curse of the Bambino

The Red Sox were the victims of a nearly century-long curse.

Looking to reverse the curse

Archaeological evidence such as Gaulish curse texts, Celtic Latin Curse tablets from the Alpine regions of Britain, and fragments of Old Brittonic tablets uncovered from Roman Bath is contemplated at length.

Celtic Curses

Over the past few years a topic of discussion in the reinsurance industry has been something economists call the Winner's Curse.

The reinsurer's conundrum: in the quest for more business, reinsurers must remember to set the right price