use-icon

HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARY

To look up an entry in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, use the search window above. For best results, after typing in the word, click on the “Search” button instead of using the “enter” key.

Some compound words (like bus rapid transit, dog whistle, or identity theft) don’t appear on the drop-down list when you type them in the search bar. For best results with compound words, place a quotation mark before the compound word in the search window.

guide to the dictionary

use-icon

THE USAGE PANEL

The Usage Panel is a group of nearly 200 prominent scholars, creative writers, journalists, diplomats, and others in occupations requiring mastery of language. Annual surveys have gauged the acceptability of particular usages and grammatical constructions.

The Panelists

open-icon

AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY APP

The new American Heritage Dictionary app is now available for iOS and Android.

scroll-icon

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY BLOG

The articles in our blog examine new words, revised definitions, interesting images from the fifth edition, discussions of usage, and more.

100-words-icon

See word lists from the best-selling 100 Words Series!

Find out more!

open-icon

INTERESTED IN DICTIONARIES?

Check out the Dictionary Society of North America at http://www.dictionarysociety.com

curb (kûrb)
Share:
n.
1. A concrete border or row of joined stones forming part of a gutter along the edge of a street.
2. An enclosing framework, such as that around a skylight.
3. A raised margin along an edge used to confine or strengthen.
4. Something that checks or restrains: High interest rates put a curb on spending.
5. A chain or strap that passes under a horse's lower jaw and serves in conjunction with the bit to restrain the horse.
6. A market, originally on a street or sidewalk, for trading securities that are not listed on a stock exchange.
tr.v. curbed, curb·ing, curbs
1.
a. To check, restrain, or control (an impulse or activity, for example); rein in. See Synonyms at restrain.
b. To prevent (a person or group) from doing something or acting in a certain way.
2. To lead (a dog) off the sidewalk into the gutter so that it can excrete waste.
3. To furnish with a curb.

[Blend of Middle English, curved piece of wood (from Old French corbe, curved object, from corbe, curved, from Latin curvus) and Middle English corbe, horse strap (from corben, to bow down, halt, from Old French corber, to bow down, from Latin curvāre, from curvus, curved, bent; see sker-2 in the Appendix of Indo-European roots).]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.