curliewurlie (kurliwurli)

[A loose compound of curl and whirl.] A fantastic circular ornament; a curlicue. [Scotch.] Ah! it's a brave kirk - nane o' yer whig-maleeries and curliewurlies and open-steek hems about it. Scott , Rob Roy, xix. curline (kėrʻli-nes), n . The state of being curl 3t. To turn and twist about; writhe; squirm. curling (ker'ling), n. [Origin obscure; appar. The very thinking it Would make a citizen start: some politic tradesman Curl with the caution of a constable. B. Jonson, Fall of Mortimer, i. 1. 4. To play at curling. See curling . [Scotch.] To curle on the ice does greatly please, Being a manly Scottish exercise. Pennecuik , Poems (ed. 1715), p. 59. To curl down, to shrink; crouch; take a coiled recumbent posture: as, he curled down into a corner. the verbal n. of curl, v., with ref. to the twisting, turning, or rolling of the stones.] A popular Scottish amusement on the ice, in which contending parties slide large smooth stones of a circular form from one mark to another, called the tee. The chief object of the player is to hurl his stone along the ice toward the tee with proper strength and precision; and on the skill displayed by the players in putting their own stones in favorable positions, or in driving rival stones out of favorable positions, depends the chief interest of the game.