cure
v. · n.-
1 to make healthy (v.) B1 Intermediate Medicineto make someone healthy again after they have been ill.
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.
ExampleThe doctors managed to cure the patient after a long stay in the hospital.
ExampleWhile modern antibiotics can cure most bacterial infections, the rise of drug-resistant strains presents a significant challenge to global health systems.
- infect
- sicken
PitfallThe doctor cured to him.The doctor cured him.The verb 'cure' is transitive and takes a direct object without a preposition.
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2 to preserve food (v.) B2 Upper Intermediate Cookingto treat food, like meat or fish, with salt or smoke so it lasts a long time.
to preserve meat, fish, or vegetable matter by salting, smoking, or drying to prevent decomposition.
ExampleFarmers used to cure ham in the winter to make it last all year.
ExampleThe traditional method involves using a dry rub of salt and spices to cure the salmon before it is cold-smoked over oak chips.
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3 to harden materials (v.) C1 Advanced Technical Engineeringto let a material like glue, plastic, or concrete become hard and strong.
to allow a material to harden or toughen through a chemical process, often involving heat, pressure, or time.
ExampleYou need to let the concrete cure for several days before you build on it.
ExampleThe epoxy resin requires at least twenty-four hours to cure fully at room temperature before the structural integrity can be tested.
UsageOften used as an intransitive verb describing the material's state change.
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4 a medical treatment (n.) B1 Intermediate Medicinea medicine or treatment that makes an illness go away.
a substance, treatment, or regimen that restores health or ends a disease.
ExampleScientists are still searching for a cure for the common cold.
ExampleThe discovery of a reliable cure for the virus transformed what was once a terminal diagnosis into a manageable condition.
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5 a solution (n.) B2 Upper Intermediatea way to solve a difficult problem.
a solution or remedy for a problematic situation or social ill.
ExampleHigher taxes are not always a cure for a country's economic problems.
ExampleThe CEO proposed a complete restructuring as a cure for the company's declining productivity and low employee morale.
From Middle English cure, borrowed from Old French cure (“care, cure, healing, cure of souls”), from Latin cura (“care, medical attendance, cure”). Displaced native Old English hǣlu, but survived as heal.
From Middle English curen, from Old French curer, from Latin cūrāre. Partially displaced Old English ġehǣlan, whence Modern English heal.
From curiosity.
- Verbcure
- Adjectiveincurable