curried; currying
1
: to clean the coat of (an animal, such as a horse) with a currycomb
2
: to treat (tanned leather) especially by incorporating oil or grease
see also curry favor
variants
or less commonly currie
plural curries
1
: a food, dish, or sauce in Indian cuisine seasoned with a mixture of pungent spices
also
: a food or dish seasoned with curry powder
2
curried; currying
: to flavor or cook with curry powder or a curry sauce
Synonyms
Verb (1)
- bash
- baste
- bat
- batter
- beat
- belabor
- belt
- birch
- bludgeon
- buffet
- bung up
- club
- do
- drub
- fib [British]
- flog
- hammer
- hide
- lace
- lambaste
- lambast
- lash
- lather
- lick
- maul
- mess (up)
- paddle
- pelt
- pommel
- pound
- pummel
- punch out
- rough (up)
- slate
- slog
- switch
- tan
- thrash
- thresh
- thump
- tromp
- wallop
- whale
- whip
- whop
- whap
- whup
- work over
Examples of curry in a Sentence
Verb (1)
vowed to curry the hide of the person who stole his wallet
Noun
We had chicken curry for dinner.
The recipe calls for a tablespoon of curry.
Recent Examples on the Web
Susan Page, USA TODAY, 21 Jan. 2025
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images Google donated $1 million to President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration fund, becoming the latest major tech company to try and curry some goodwill with the incoming administration.
—Ashley Capoot, CNBC, 9 Jan. 2025
Kaitlyn Rosati, New York Daily News, 5 Feb. 2025
Multiple foods were outside of safe temperatures, including rice, raw chicken, sprouts, cut tomatoes, tofu, pork belly, rice noodles and peanut curry.
—Camila Pedrosa, Sacramento Bee, 31 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for curry 
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
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Verb
Foreign leaders, corporate titans, Democratic governors and others who made clear their concern or outright opposition to Trump during his first term have moved since the November election not to challenge and resist him − but to accommodate him and curry his favor.
—Susan Page, USA TODAY, 21 Jan. 2025
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images Google donated $1 million to President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration fund, becoming the latest major tech company to try and curry some goodwill with the incoming administration.
—Ashley Capoot, CNBC, 9 Jan. 2025
Noun
Thai is quintessential comfort food, and Thai Diner takes it a step even further with their Thai disco fries, which are crinkle cut fries smothered in a spicy curry with pickled peppercorns for crunch.
—Kaitlyn Rosati, New York Daily News, 5 Feb. 2025
Multiple foods were outside of safe temperatures, including rice, raw chicken, sprouts, cut tomatoes, tofu, pork belly, rice noodles and peanut curry.
—Camila Pedrosa, Sacramento Bee, 31 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for curry
Articles Related to curry
Dictionary Entries Near curry
Cite this Entry
“Curry.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/curry. Accessed 11 Feb. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
curry
1 of 3 verb
cur·ry
ˈkər-ē 
ˈkə-rē
curried; currying
: to rub and clean the coat of
curry a horse
currier
noun
curry
3 of 3 verb
curried; currying
: to flavor or cook with curry powder
Etymology
Verb
Middle English currayen "to comb the coat of (a horse)," from early French correier "to prepare," probably from a Latin word of Germanic origin
Noun
from Tamil (a language of southern India) kaṟi "a spiced dish of food"
Biographical Definition
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