Find the word definition

Crossword clues for curt

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
curt
adjective
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ NOUN
nod
▪ With a curt nod he beckoned the waiter, settled the bill, ushered her out into the silky darkness.
▪ He thanks Paul with a curt nod.
▪ He looked at me as though he had seen me somewhere before, but I passed by with a curt nod.
▪ When the kitchen had been restored to its former tidiness, he gave her a curt nod, and walked out.
▪ The nearest guard glanced at it, then ushered him through with a curt nod of his head.
▪ On the sixth day, after a curt nod from the chef, Mark realised he must be doing something half-right.
▪ Give what I hope is curt nod, though double chins seem to go on flapping for ever.
▪ He gave a quick, curt nod to the soldiers on duty and turned on to the Al Ain road.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ He responded with a curt, three-sentence letter.
▪ Her story was sent back with a curt rejection note.
▪ Polly was curt and businesslike with her clients.
▪ She answered their questions with a curt "No comment".
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Blanche gave a few more curt television interviews, voicing her horror at the murder and appealing for any information.
▪ Charman's curt reviews got slightly more excitable as the year drew on.
▪ His curt tone made her stomach lurch.
▪ I responded with curt answers tempered with moderate annoyance.
▪ It was too absurd - the invitation, then this curt dismissal, as if I had exhausted his patience.
▪ She hadn't missed the sting in the tail in that curt directive.
▪ The rap on the door was hard and curt.
▪ This diligence can only be exercised once the curt papers have been served on the debtor.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Curt

Curt \Curt\ (k[u^]rt), a. [L. curtus; cf. Skr. kart to cut. Cf. Curtail.] Characterized by excessive brevity; short; rudely concise; as, curt limits; a curt answer.

The curt, yet comprehensive reply.
--W. Irving.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
curt

mid-14c., from Latin curtus "(cut) short, shortened, incomplete," from PIE root *(s)ker- (1) "to cut" (see short (adj.)). Sense of "rude" is first recorded 1831. The Latin word was adopted early into most Germanic languages (compare Icelandic korta, German kurz, etc.) and drove out the native words based on Proto-Germanic *skurt-, but English retains short.

Wiktionary
curt

n. 1 A short form of the male given name Curtis 2 (given name male from=Germanic), an anglicized spelling of Kurt

WordNet
curt
  1. adj. marked by rude or peremptory shortness; "try to cultivate a less brusque manner"; "a curt reply"; "the salesgirl was very short with him" [syn: brusque, brusk, short(p)]

  2. brief and to the point; effectively cut short; "a crisp retort"; "a response so curt as to be almost rude"; "the laconic reply; `yes'"; "short and terse and easy to understand" [syn: crisp, laconic, terse]

Usage examples of "curt".

To Curt Newton, who had followed the shadow of that glory far back toward its source, the very stones of these ruins spoke of cosmic tragedy, of the agelong night that succeeded the blazing highest noon of human splendor.

It needed replacing, and with a curt warning to Angevine, and to the sound of her horrified yells, he began to dismantle it.

O warrior, and while at first hearing it may seem to some to be curt and unseemly, not to mention saucy, I feel that it proceeds from none but the chastest of motives.

Charles was getting more and more nervous under the curt questioning of this well-dressed clubman with the piercing eyes.

Valgard, gaunter and grimmer and curter of speech as the months wore on, sought to raise flagging spirits.

Through the door Clavain saw a throng of media people, then someone gliding through them, fielding questions with only the curtest of answers.

All the same, the fuss they were making of this young monk, while according only the curtest of nods to the Brigadier, so disgusted him that he was in a hurry to get away.

Gilwater road, thanked Nancy in the curtest polite phrase, and departed.

I said hello once or twice, in passing, but he would give me the curtest possible nod and freeze me with his expression.

Greta Seidenheim clacked away on her machine as if she were recording the curtest, the tritest of business letters.

Ralph, rising with ill-concealed agitation, and stalking out of the room, without the curtest leave-taking.

Ferdy was on the point of suggesting, had not the Viscount nipped such friendly overtures in the bud by scowling upon his victim, offering him the curtest of apologies, handing him his card, climbing into his curricle, and driving off without another word.

After the play he went home, with the curtest of congratulations to the cast and the stage crew.

The curtest, least graphic description of the biting days and nights in the trenches set the lad shivering.

At the bottom of the Row they stopped, shook hands, and with the curtest of nods parted.