courb

English

Etymology

From Middle English courben, from Middle French courber, from Latin curvō. Doublet of curb.

Verb

courb (third-person singular simple present courbs, present participle courbing, simple past and past participle courbed)

1. (obsolete) To bend; to bow.
   • c. 1385, William Langland, Piers Plowman, section I:

     Thanne I courbed on my knees · and cryed hir of grace.

   • 1664, John Evelyn, Sylva:

     Sallys may also be propagated like Vines, by courbing, and bowing them in Arches.

Anagrams

• Burco

Middle English

Adjective

courb

1. curved; rounded
   • c. 1386–1390, John Gower, edited by Reinhold Pauli, Confessio Amantis of John Gower: Edited and Collated with the Best Manuscripts, volume (please specify |volume=I, II, or III), London: Bell and Daldy […], published 1857, →OCLC:

     Her necke is short, her shoulders courb.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)