curb
to restrain or keep in check an impulse, tendency, or activity
Word origin: From Old French courbe, a curved bit, via Latin curvus, bent.
Curb in a sentence
Here are example sentences showing curb in a sentence.
The new regulations were designed to curb excessive spending by government agencies.
The central bank raised interest rates in an effort to curb runaway inflation.
Using “curb” well
As a verb, curb means to hold something in check and pairs with restrain and suppress. The image is of a curb bit used to control a horse, which underlies the figurative sense.
More GRE words starting with C
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misty, dim, or dark, and therefore obscure
Questions about “curb”
See these words the way the GRE tests them.
Definitions in isolation do not stick. Sit a free, full-length GRE mock and meet this vocabulary inside real text completion and sentence equivalence questions, with your score and a worked solution for every answer.