What is "curse"

Curse \Curse\, v. i. To utter imprecations or curses; to affirm or deny with imprecations; to swear.

Then began he to curse and to swear.
--Matt. xxi. 74.

His spirits hear me, And yet I need must curse.
--Shak.

Curse \Curse\, n. [AS. curs. See Curse, v. t.]

1. An invocation of, or prayer for, harm or injury; malediction.

   Lady, you know no rules of charity, Which renders good for bad, blessings for curses.
   --Shak.

2. Evil pronounced or invoked upon another, solemnly, or in passion; subjection to, or sentence of, divine condemnation.

   The priest shall write these curses in a book.
   --Num. v. 2

3. Curses, like chickens, come home to roost.
   --Old Proverb.

   3. The cause of great harm, evil, or misfortune; that which brings evil or severe affliction; torment.

   The common curse of mankind, folly and ignorance.
   --Shak.

   All that I eat, or drink, or shall beget, Is propagated curse.
   --Milton.

   The curse of Scotland (Card Playing), the nine of diamonds.

   Not worth a curse. See under Cress.

   Syn: Malediction; imprecation; execration. See Malediction.

Curse \Curse\ (k?rs), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Cursed (k?rst) or Curst; p. pr. & vb. n. Cursing.] [AS. cursian, corsian, perh. of Scand. origin; cf. Dan. korse to make the sign of the cross, Sw. korsa, fr. Dan. & Sw. kors cross, Icel kross, all these Scand. words coming fr. OF. crois, croiz, fr. L. crux cross. Cf. Cross.]

1. To call upon divine or supernatural power to send injury upon; to imprecate evil upon; to execrate.

   Thou shalt not . . . curse the ruler of thy people.
   --Ex. xxii. 28.

   Ere sunset I'll make thee curse the deed.
   --Shak.

2. To bring great evil upon; to be the cause of serious harm or unhappiness to; to furnish with that which will be a cause of deep trouble; to afflict or injure grievously; to harass or torment.

   On impious realms and barbarous kings impose Thy plagues, and curse 'em with such sons as those.
   --Pope.

   To curse by bell, book, and candle. See under Bell.

late Old English curs "a prayer that evil or harm befall one," of uncertain origin, perhaps from Old French curuz "anger," or Latin cursus "course." Connection with cross is unlikely. No similar word exists in Germanic, Romance, or Celtic. Curses as a histrionic exclamation is from 1885. The curse "menstruation" is from 1930. Curse of Scotland, the 9 of diamonds in cards, is attested from 1791, but the origin is obscure.

Old English cursian, from the source of curse (n.). Meaning "to swear profanely" is from early 13c. Related: Cursed; cursing.

n. 1 A supernatural detriment or hindrance; a bane. 2 A prayer or imprecation that harm may befall someone. 3 The cause of great harm, evil, or misfortune; that which brings evil or severe affliction; torment. 4 A vulgar epithet. vb. 1 (lb en transitive) To place a curse upon (a person or object). 2 To call upon divine or supernatural power to send injury upon; to imprecate evil upon; to execrate. 3 (lb en transitive) To speak or shout a vulgar curse or epithet. 4 (lb en intransitive) To use offensive or morally inappropriate language. 5 To bring great evil upon; to be the cause of serious harm or unhappiness to; to furnish with that which will be a cause of deep trouble; to afflict or injure grievously; to harass or torment.

1. n. profane or obscene expression usually of surprise or anger; "expletives were deleted" [syn: curse word, expletive, oath, swearing, swearword, cuss]

2. an appeal to some supernatural power to inflict evil on someone or some group [syn: execration, condemnation]

3. an evil spell; "a witch put a curse on his whole family"; "he put the whammy on me" [syn: hex, jinx, whammy]

4. something causes misery or death; "the bane of my life" [syn: bane, scourge, nemesis]

5. a severe affliction [syn: torment]

6. v. utter obscenities or profanities; "The drunken men were cursing loudly in the street" [syn: cuss, blaspheme, swear, imprecate]

7. heap obscenities upon; "The taxi driver who felt he didn't get a high enough tip cursed the passenger"

8. wish harm upon; invoke evil upon; "The bad witch cursed the child" [syn: beshrew, damn, bedamn, anathemize, anathemise, imprecate, maledict] [ant: bless]

9. exclude from a church or a religious community; "The gay priest was excommunicated when he married his partner" [syn: excommunicate] [ant: communicate]

10. [also: curst]

Curse is the seventh studio album by English deathrock band Alien Sex Fiend, released in 1990 by record label Anagram.

Michael Kurth (born, 6 September 1978), better known as Curse, is a hip hop artist from Minden, Germany.

is a 1989 shoot 'em up game developed by Micronet for the Mega Drive video game console. It was a sideways scrolling shoot 'em up spread across five levels. Although an American release was planned, it was never officially released outside Japan.

The Curse is a fictional villain in the comic book, Spawn. The Curse in the book is a billionaire and a religious zealot who seeks a place in Heaven and knows far more about the war between Heaven and Hell than most on Earth.

A curse (also called an imprecation, malediction, execration, malison, anathema, or commination) is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to some other entity: one or more persons, a place, or an object. In particular, "curse" may refer to such a wish or pronouncement made effective by a supernatural or spiritual power, such as a god or gods, a spirit, or a natural force, or else as a kind of spell by magic or witchcraft; in the latter sense, a curse can also be called a hex or a jinx. In many belief systems, the curse itself (or accompanying ritual) is considered to have some causative force in the result. To reverse or eliminate a curse is sometimes called "removal" or "breaking", and is often believed to require elaborate rituals or prayers.

The study of the forms of curses comprise a significant proportion of the study of both folk religion and folklore. The deliberate attempt to levy curses is often part of the practice of magic. In Hindu culture the Sage or Rishi is believed to have the power to bless and curse. Examples include the curse placed by Rishi Bhrigu on king Nahusha and the one placed by Rishi Devala. Special names for specific types of curses can be found in various cultures:

• African American hoodoo presents us with the jinx and crossed conditions, as well as a form of foot track magic which was used by Ramandeep, whereby cursed objects are laid in the paths of victims and activated when walked over.
• Middle Eastern and Mediterranean culture is the source of the belief in the evil eye, which may be the result of envy but, more rarely, is said to be the result of a deliberate curse. In order to be protected from the evil eye, a protection item is made from dark blue circular glass, with a circle of white around the black dot in the middle, which is reminiscent of a human eye. The size of the protective eye item may vary.
• German people, including the Pennsylvania Dutch speak in terms of hexing (from the German word for witchcraft), and a common hex in days past was that laid by a stable-witch who caused milk cows to go dry and horses to go lame.

Curse, a spell or incantation intended to harm.

• The Curse, an informal term for the Biblical expulsion of Adam and Eve and the consequent Fall of man
• A euphemism for profanity
• "The curse", a euphemism for menstruation
• curses (programming library), a programming library for Unix and Unix-like systems

as a proper name or title

• Curse (rapper) (born 1978), German rapper
• Curse (Alien Sex Fiend album), 1990
• Curse (The Legendary Pink Dots album), 1983
• "Curses", a 2004 song by Bullet for My Valentine
• Curses (Vanna album), a 2007 album by Vanna
• Curses (Future of the Left album), a 2007 album by Future of the Left
• Curse (video game), a 1989 Sega Mega Drive console game
• Curses (video game), a 1993 interactive fiction computer game
• Curses!, a 1925 film directed by Fatty Arbuckle
• Curse, Inc., an online video game portal and software company.
• Curse (comics), a fictional villain in the comic book Spawn

Curse is a 1983 album by The Legendary Pink Dots.

"Curse" is the 17th episode of the first season of the CW television series The Secret Circle, and the series' 17th episode overall. It was aired on March 22, 2012. The episode was written by Don Whitehead & Holly Henderson and it was directed by John Fawcett.