cure Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a medicine or therapy that cures disease or relieve pain
    curative; remedy; therapeutic.
  2. verb provide a cure for, make healthy again
    heal; bring around.
    • The treatment cured the boy's acne
    • The quack pretended to heal patients but never managed to
  3. verb prepare by drying, salting, or chemical processing in order to preserve
    • cure meats
    • cure pickles
    • cure hay
  4. verb make (substances) hard and improve their usability
    • cure resin
    • cure cement
    • cure soap
  5. verb be or become preserved
    • the apricots cure in the sun

WordNet

Cure noun
Etymology
OF, cure care, F., also, cure, healing, cure of souls, L. cura care, medical attendance, cure; perh. akin to cavere to pay heed, E. cution. Cure is not related to care.
Definitions
  1. Care, heed, or attention. Obs.
    Of study took he most cure and most heed. Chaucer.
    Vicarages of greatcure, but small value. Fuller.
  2. Spiritual charge; care of soul; the office of a parish priest or of a curate; hence, that which is committed to the charge of a parish priest or of a curate; a curacy; as, to resign a cure; to obtain a cure.
    The appropriator was the incumbent parson, and had the cure of the souls of the parishioners. Spelman.
  3. Medical or hygienic care; remedial treatment of disease; a method of medical treatment; as, to use the water cure.
  4. Act of healing or state of being healed; restoration to health from disease, or to soundness after injury.
    Past hope! pastcure! past help. Shak.
    I do cures to-day and to-morrow. Luke xii. 32.
  5. Means of the removal of disease or evil; that which heals; a remedy; a restorative.
    Cold, hunger, prisons, ills without a cure. Dryden.
    The proper cure of such prejudices. Bp. Hurd.
Cure transitive verb
Etymology
OF. curer to take care, to heal, F., only, to cleanse, L. curare to take care, to heal, fr. cura. See Cure,.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Cured present participle & verbal noun Curing
Definitions
  1. To heal; to restore to health, soundness, or sanity; to make well; -- said of a patient.
    The child was cured from that very hour. Matt. xvii. 18.
  2. To subdue or remove by remedial means; to remedy; to remove; to heal; -- said of a malady.
    To cure this deadly grief. Shak.
    Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power . . . to cure diseases. Luke ix. 1.
  3. To set free from (something injurious or blameworthy), as from a bad habit.
    I never knew any man cured of inattention. Swift.
  4. To prepare for preservation or permanent keeping; to preserve, as by drying, salting, etc.; as, to cure beef or fish; to cure hay.
Cure intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To pay heed; to care; to give attention. Obs.
  2. To restore health; to effect a cure.
    Whose smile and frown, like to Achilles' spear, Is able with the change to kill and cure. Shak.
  3. To become healed.
    One desperate grief cures with another's languish. Shak.
Cu`r"e noun
Etymology
F., fr. LL. curatus. See Curate.
Definitions
  1. A curate; a pardon.

Webster 1913