Curtal
//ˈkəːtəl// adj, noun
adj, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A variety of short-barrelled cannon. historical
- 2 An early type of bassoon.
- 3 A horse or other animal having a docked tail. obsolete
- 4 Anything docked or cut short. obsolete
Adjective
- 1 Of horses, having a docked tail. obsolete
- 2 Physically shortened; short. archaic
"she had loosened her hair and changed into the curtal frock of sunbright cotton that he was so fond of and had so ardently yearned to soil in the so recent past."
- 3 Abridged, curtailed. obsolete
"essays and curtal aphorisms"
Adjective
- 1 (archaic) docked wordnet
Example
More examples"she had loosened her hair and changed into the curtal frock of sunbright cotton that he was so fond of and had so ardently yearned to soil in the so recent past."
Etymology
From older French courtault (modern French courtaud), from court (“short”) + -ault (pejorative suffix).
Related phrases
More for "curtal"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.