Word of the Day
Cur (kuhr)
· Common clues: Mangy mutt, Knave; Bad dog
· Crossword puzzle frequency: 6 times a year
· Frequency in English language: 52519 / 86800
Definition:
1. a mongrel, especially an aggressive, ill-natured or worthless one.
2. a cowardly, worthless or mean fellow.
Etymology: Middle English, short for curdogge, from (assumed) Middle English curren, ‘growl’ (perhaps ultimately from Old Norse kurra, ‘grumbling’).
The bourgeois
stands like a question mark,
Speechless, like the hungry
cur,
The ancient world stands there behind him,
A
mongrel dog, afraid to stir.
Alexander Blok (1880–1921), Russian poet. “The Twelve,” sct. 9 (1918), trans. by Gerard Shelley (1942).
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