1CFto form a twisted or curvedshape, or to make something do this (使)弯曲;盘绕,缠绕
Mary was busy curling her hair.
玛丽在忙着卷头发。
curl around/round
Ivy curled round the tree.
常春藤缠绕在树上。
2[always + adverbadv/prepositionprep]BEND to move, forming a twisted or curved shape, or to make something do this (使)呈曲线移动;(使)旋绕
curl across/along etc
Morning mists curled across the river.
河面上晨雾缭绕。
curl something around/round/over etc something
He curled his arm around Claudia’s waist.
他伸手揽住克劳迪娅的腰。
3DISAPPROVEif you curl your lip, or if your lip curls, you move it upwards and sideways, to show that you disapprove of someone or something 噘起〔嘴唇,表示反对〕
Her lip curled in contempt.
她轻蔑地撇撇嘴。
4curl upphrasal verbphr v
a)BENDto move so that you are lying or sitting with your arms and legsbent close to your body 蜷缩
The letter was now yellow and beginning to curl up.
信纸如今已泛黄,边开始卷起来了。
Examples from the Corpus
curl up• I was so tired all I wanted to do was curl up and watchTV.• She curled up in her bed that night, thinking of Michel.• The two cats curled up together in the armchair.
curl around/round• A narrowstairway of stonecurled around a pillarnear the door and disappeared through the beams of the roof.• Still further off the baycurls round and vanishes in mist.• She thought Robin must sleep in this bed with Penny, curled around her protectively as you would sleep with a kitten.• A musksmelllingered on Groves' sleeve, from where the femalesnake had curled around his arm.• Thick, dark hair curled around his face and his rolled-up sleeves revealed strong, well-muscled arms.• He studies the little dark face and massages a limp hand until the fingers curl around his own.• These leaves, too, were curled around the edges, and their undersides were covered with a downytanfuzz.• Sure enough, when they went out to the yard, the same snake was curled around the same plant.
5.curl of somebody’s lip/mouthDISAPPROVEa sideways and upwards movement of your lip or mouth, showing that you disapprove of someone or something 撇嘴,噘嘴〔表示不赞同〕
Examples from the Corpus
curl of somebody’s lip/mouth• David had always treated them with a superiorcurl of the lip.
nCOLLOCATIONS
adjectives
soft/loose curls (=gentle curves)
long brown hair in soft curls
tight curls (=curves that are very close together)
Her dark hair was arranged in tight curls.
natural curls
You're lucky if you have natural curls.
a stray/wayward curl (=hanging in an untidy way)
Emily pushed back a stray curl.
golden/dark/black etc curls
a little boy with a tangle of blond curls
verbs
curls fall/tumble (=hang down)
The child's golden curls fell around her shoulders.
phrases
a mass/mop of curls (=a lot of curls)
a gorgeous Italian man with a mass of dark curls
a tangle of curls (=curls that are not neatly combed)