# cure

/ˈkjʊɹ/ (US) · /kjˈɔː/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/cure
Updated: 2026-06-19

## Senses

### 1. to make healthy

verb · CEFR B1

to make someone healthy again after they have been ill.

For teachers: to restore an individual to health or to eliminate a disease or its effects. Transitive, taking the person or the illness as the direct object.

- The doctors managed to cure the patient after a long stay in the hospital.
- While modern antibiotics can cure most bacterial infections, the rise of drug-resistant strains presents a significant challenge to global health systems.

### 2. to preserve food

verb · CEFR B2

to treat food, like meat or fish, with salt or smoke so it lasts a long time.

For teachers: to preserve meat, fish, or vegetable matter by salting, smoking, or drying to prevent decomposition.

- Farmers used to cure ham in the winter to make it last all year.
- The traditional method involves using a dry rub of salt and spices to cure the salmon before it is cold-smoked over oak chips.

### 3. to harden materials

verb · CEFR C1 · Technical

to let a material like glue, plastic, or concrete become hard and strong.

For teachers: to allow a material to harden or toughen through a chemical process, often involving heat, pressure, or time.

- You need to let the concrete cure for several days before you build on it.
- The epoxy resin requires at least twenty-four hours to cure fully at room temperature before the structural integrity can be tested.

Usage: Often used as an intransitive verb describing the material's state change.

### 4. a medical treatment

noun · CEFR B1

a medicine or treatment that makes an illness go away.

For teachers: a substance, treatment, or regimen that restores health or ends a disease.

- Scientists are still searching for a cure for the common cold.
- The discovery of a reliable cure for the virus transformed what was once a terminal diagnosis into a manageable condition.

### 5. a solution

noun · CEFR B2

a way to solve a difficult problem.

For teachers: a solution or remedy for a problematic situation or social ill.

- Higher taxes are not always a cure for a country's economic problems.
- The CEO proposed a complete restructuring as a cure for the company's declining productivity and low employee morale.

## Examples

- Scientists are working hard to find a cure for the common cold.
- After years of research, the medical team finally discovered a cure that could save thousands of lives.
- While the new policy was hailed as a cure for the city's housing crisis, critics argued it merely addressed the symptoms rather than the underlying economic causes.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.