Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - curse

(curses, cursing, cursed) 1. If you curse, you use rude or offensive language, usually because you are angry about something. (WRITTEN) I cursed and hobbled to my feet. = swear VERB: V • Curse is also a noun. He shot her an angry look and a curse. N-COUNT 2. If you curse someone, you say insulting things to them because you are angry with them. Grandma protested, but he cursed her and rudely pushed her aside... He cursed himself for having been so careless. VERB: V n, V pron-refl 3. If you curse something, you complain angrily about it, especially using rude language. So we set off again, cursing the delay, towards the west... VERB: V n 4. If you say that there is a curse on someone, you mean that there seems to be a supernatural power causing unpleasant things to happen to them. Maybe there is a curse on my family... N-COUNT: oft N on/upon n 5. You can refer to something that causes a great deal of trouble or harm as a curse. Apathy is the long-standing curse of British local democracy... = plague N-COUNT: usu sing, oft N of n