cure
1 Americannoun
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a means of healing or restoring to health; remedy.
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a method or course of remedial treatment, as for disease.
- Synonyms:
- antidote, specific, restorative, remedy
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successful remedial treatment; restoration to health.
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a means of correcting or relieving anything that is troublesome or detrimental.
The administration is seeking a cure for inflation.
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the act or a method of preserving meat, fish, etc., by smoking, salting, or the like.
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spiritual or religious charge of the people in a certain district.
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the office or district of a curate or parish priest.
verb (used with object)
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to restore to health.
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to relieve or rid of something detrimental, such as an illness or a bad habit.
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to correct (a document, especially a mail-in ballot) in order to make it valid.
If the voter’s signature is missing, the county board sends them a certification form allowing the voter to cure the ballot so it can be counted.
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to prepare (meat, fish, etc.) for preservation by salting, drying, etc.
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to promote hardening of (fresh concrete or mortar), as by keeping it damp.
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to process (rubber, tobacco, etc.) as by fermentation or aging.
verb (used without object)
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to effect a cure.
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to become cured.
noun
verb
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(tr) to get rid of (an ailment, fault, or problem); heal
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(tr) to restore to health or good condition
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(intr) to bring about a cure
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(tr) to preserve (meat, fish, etc) by salting, smoking, etc
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(tr)
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to treat or finish (a substance) by chemical or physical means
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to vulcanize (rubber)
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to allow (a polymer) to set often using heat or pressure
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(tr) to assist the hardening of (concrete, mortar, etc) by keeping it moist
noun
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a return to health, esp after specific treatment
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any course of medical therapy, esp one proved effective in combating a disease
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a means of restoring health or improving a condition, situation, etc
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the spiritual and pastoral charge of a parish
the cure of souls
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a process or method of preserving meat, fish, etc, by salting, pickling, or smoking
noun
Synonym Usage
Cure, heal, remedy imply making well, whole, or right. Cure is applied to the eradication of disease or sickness: to cure a headache. Heal suggests the making whole of wounds, sores, etc.: to heal a burn. Remedy applies especially to making wrongs right: to remedy a mistake.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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curernoun
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curelessadjective
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half-curedadjective
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overcuredadjective
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semicuredadjective
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uncuredadjective
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well-curedadjective
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curelesslyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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curesimple
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curessimple
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have curedperfect
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has curedperfect
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are curingprogressive
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am curingprogressive
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is curingprogressive
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have been curingperfect progressive
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has been curingperfect progressive
Past
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curedsimple
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had curedperfect
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was curingprogressive
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were curingprogressive
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had been curingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of cure1
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, Old French noun cure, from Latin cūra “care”; verb derivative of the noun
Origin of curé2
1645–55; < French, Old French; modeled on Medieval Latin cūrātus parish priest; see curate
Explanation
A cure is a treatment that ends an illness or makes you feel better. There is no cure for the common cold, or for a broken heart. Waaaaa. Many researchers focus on finding cures for diseases like cancer and diabetes — while it is possible to recover from incurable illnesses, it's not possible to cure them. You could also say, "This Florida winter is going to cure me of missing Minnesota!" When someone cures meat or fish, they smoke or salt it to preserve it. The Latin root is curare, "take care of."
Vocabulary lists containing cure
Health and Healthcare, List 1
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Help, List 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Yet the uncomfortable truth at the heart of modern Batson jurisprudence is that although it identified the disease, it has never found an effective cure.
From Slate • Jun. 17, 2026
The idea is that prevention is better than a cure when it comes to instilling financial responsibility in young people.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 16, 2026
They noted that the world was one month into dealing with a deadly Ebola species outbreak in central Africa that has no known cure and no approved vaccines.
From Barron's • Jun. 15, 2026
"Right diagnosis, wrong cure" was the headline of one email in my inbox earlier today.
From BBC • Jun. 15, 2026
And through the Firebus ride to the game, as the mirrored softball spins, so does my brain: Maybe he was working on the cure for some disease.
From "Fast Pitch" by Nic Stone
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.