Curb (k?rb), v. t. [imp. & p.p. Curbed (k?rbd); p. pr. & vb. n. Curbing.] [F. courber to bend, curve, L.curvare, fr. curvus bent, curved; cf. Gr. curved. Cf. Curve.]
1.
To bend or curve [Obs.]
Crooked and curbed lines.
Holland.
2.
To guide and manage, or restrain, as with a curb; to bend to one's will; to subject; to subdue; to restrain; to confine; to keep in check.
Part wield their arms, part curb the foaming steed.
Milton.
Where pinching want must curb thy warm desires.
Prior.
3.
To furnish with a curb, as a well; also, to restrain by a curb, as a bank of earth.
© Webster 1913.
Curb, v. i.
To bend; to crouch; to cringe. [Obs.]
Virtue itself of vice must pardon beg,
Yea, curb and woo for leave to do him good.
Shak.
© Webster 1913.
Curb, n. 1. That which curbs, restrains, or subdues; a check or hindbrance; esp., a chain or strap attached to the upper part of the branches of a bit, and capable of being drawn tightly against the lower jaw of the horse.
He that before ran in the pastures wild
Felt the stiff curb control his angry jaws.
Drayton.
By these men, religion,that should be
The curb, is made the spur of tyranny.
Denham.
2. Arch.
An assemblage of three or more pieces of timber, or a metal member, forming a frame around an opening, and serving to maintain the integrity of that opening; also, a ring of stone serving a similar purpose, as at the eye of a dome.
3. A frame or wall round the mouth of a well; also, a frame within a well to prevent the earth caving in.
4. A curbstone.
5. Far. A swelling on the back part of the hind leg of a horse, just behind the lowest part of the hock joint, generally causing lameness.
James Law.
Curb bit, a stiff bit having branches by which a leverage is obtained upon the jaws of horse. Knight. -- Curb pins Horology, the pins on the regulator which restrain the hairspring. -- Curb plate Arch., a plate serving the purpose of a curb. -- Deck curb. See under Deck.
© Webster 1913. | 
