kerbn.
/kəːb/, U.S. /kərb/ 1. In various uses in which curb is the more frequent spelling (see curb n. III.).
ΚΠ
1664 J. Evelyn Sylva i. iv. §15 [Elm] scarce has any superior for kerbs of coppers.
1733 F. Price Brit. Carpenter (1753) 28 The kirb, on which stands a lanthorn, or cupola.
1793 J. Smeaton Narr. Edystone Lighthouse (ed. 2) §48 One Kirb or circle of compass timber at each floor.
1797 Monthly Mag. 3 221 The skirting, or kirb, which keeps in the ground, may be cast, or framed, with the boxes.
1873 F. Hall Mod. Eng. p. xi Mistaking the kerb of our own little philologic well for the far-off horizon of science.
2. spec. An edging of stone or the like, bordering a raised path, side-walk, or pavement: = curb n. 12 on the kerb: said of stock-exchange business done on the street-pavement, esp. after the exchange is closed for the day.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > path or place for walking > [noun] > foot(-)path > by side of street or road > kerb
curbstone1791
kerb1807
kerb-stone1815
curb1836
kerbing1869
1807 Ann. Reg. 1805 (Otridge ed.) Chron. 359/2 A young man..fell down off the kirb, in Thames-street.
1851 Official Descriptive & Illustr. Catal. Great Exhib. II. 243 A section of a street, with improved kerb, for keeping the pavement clean.
1863 M. Hopkins Hawaii 71 An ancient lava road..defined on each side with a kerb or bordering of stones.
1894 Times 19 Apr. 4/4 Later in the day the trading was slow, and on the Kerb cash was done at £40. 2s. 6d.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
a.
kerb-merchant n.
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1897 Daily News 30 Mar. 6/4 Some kerb merchants..were also driving a good trade in loyal buttons.
kerb-vendor n. One who sells his wares on or beside the street-kerb.
ΚΠ
1894 Fenn Tiger Lily I. 139 A silk umbrella—one of those..declared by the kerb vendor as being better than new.
b.
kerb-edge n.
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1930 D. H. Lawrence Nettles 11 Idle we stand at the kerb-edge, Auntie, Dangling our useless hands.
1955 W. Faulkner Fable (U.K. ed.) 306 On through the gate into an alley, a blank wall opposite and at the kerb-edge [curb-edge, 1954 U.S. ed.] a big..car.
kerb-side n.
ΚΠ
1905 Daily Chron. 11 Nov. 4/7 Fruit from the kerbside barrow is marvellously cheap nowadays.
1923 Daily Mail 21 July 3 The growing tendency of motorists to avail themselves of kerb-side pumps.
1959 Times 8 Dec. 5/6 The all-day parker has become so accustomed to free kerbside accommodation that the very idea of having to pay a parking charge seems to him an outrage.
1969 Daily Tel. 19 Aug. 15/1 A kerbside cafe.
1971 Slaughter & Goodman Every Man should have One ii. 18 If they succeed in looking like a model girl..it is meant as a compliment to you, not an expectation of ritzy treatment with champagne flowing and nothing less than an Aston Martin at the kerbside.
c.
kerb market n.
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1905 Daily Chron. 28 Apr. 4/4 The kerb market in New York reflects in a general way the tone of the stock market.
kerb stocks n. see on the kerb at sense 2 and curb n. Compounds.
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1923 Daily Express 30 July 2/6 Kerb Stocks.
C2.
kerb-crawl v. [as a back-formation] (intransitive) .
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > prostitution > [verb (intransitive)] > frequent prostitutes > kerb-crawl
cruise1927
kerb-crawl1971
1971 Daily Tel. 13 Jan. 11/1 A man who kerb-crawls is not committing an offence.
1972 Daily Tel. 16 Oct. 3 A campaign against motorists who ‘kerb crawl’ in search of prostitutes.
kerb-crawler n.
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society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > prostitution > [noun] > frequenting prostitutes > kerb-crawling > one who
cruiser1903
kerb-crawler1955
1955 ‘C. H. Rolph’ Women of Streets ii. 43 The solicitation of respectable women in the streets by ‘kerb-crawlers’…is causing much disquiet.
1969 Sunday Tel. (Brisbane) 20 Apr. 3/6 Women who complain of kerb-crawlers who pester them are often hypocritical to sex.
kerb crawling n. = gutter-crawling n. at gutter n.1 Compounds 2; also as adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > prostitution > [noun] > frequenting prostitutes > kerb-crawling
cruising1927
gutter-crawling1945
kerb crawling1949
1949 E. Partridge Dict. Slang (ed. 3) 1091/2 Kerb-crawling vbl. n. and ppl. a.
1971 Times 10 Aug. 2/1 The Rev. Peter Hawkins..complaining of kerb-crawling by men looking for girls.
1971 Times 10 Aug. 2/2 Respectable women had complained of being importuned by kerb-crawling motorists.
kerb drill n. the exercise of standing on the kerb and looking right, then left, then right again before crossing the road.
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society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > road > parts of road > [noun] > part where pedestrians can cross > routine for crossing road
road drill1907
kerb drill1948
Green Cross Code1971
1948 R. Bailey Safety Way iii. 17 In some schools the children practise Kerb Drill with their teachers and learn to judge speeds.
1969 Highway Code 5 Kerb drill. Before you cross, stop at the kerb, look right, look left, look right again.
1970 R. Rendell Guilty Thing Surprised ix. 105 They poured through the gates.., paying no attention to the kerb drill.
kerb-post n. a post set at the edge of a pavement.
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society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > path or place for walking > [noun] > foot(-)path > by side of street or road > stone or post at edge of
guard-stone1865
kerb-post1904
1904 Westm. Gaz. 25 Mar. 1/3 Four of the cannon..now fill the lowly if useful rôles of kerb-posts and lamp-posts.
kerb service n. see curb service n. at curb n. Compounds.
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1956 P. Highsmith Blunderer viii. 69 Walter..bought her chocolate sodas at the kerb-service drugstore.
kerb weight n. (see quot. 1967).
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society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > [noun] > motor vehicle > expressing speed or acceleration > weight without occupants or load
tare1903
kerb weight1958
1958 Economist 25 Oct. (Suppl.) 10/1 With a kerb weight of 26 cwt and 240 BHP of power from the 3.7-litre engine, the maximum speed will equal that of any four-seater car in the world, close to 150 mph.
1967 E. Rudinger Consumer's Car Gloss. (ed. 2) 64 Kerb weight, weight of a car without occupants or luggage but with oil and water and some petrol.
Draft additions June 2015
kerb appeal n. originally U.S. the attractiveness of a property and its surroundings when viewed from the street.Used esp. in the context of selling houses.
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1957 Farmington (New Mexico) Daily Times 12 May 2/4 The [building] industry is urging its members to start selling with what it calls ‘curb appeal’. This is an attractive landscape.
1985 Financial Times 5 Oct. (Weekend section) p. x/5 The kerb appeal of a development is still important. Luxury apartments approached through builders' rubble..do not create the right impression.
2012 Sunday Times (Nexis) 5 Feb. (Home section) 13 Improve your home's kerb appeal..: spruce up the driveway, manicure the front garden, repair window frames and upgrade the door furniture.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1901; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
kerbv.
/kəːb/, U.S. /kərb/ transitive. To furnish with a kerb.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > paving and road-building > pave or build roads [verb (transitive)] > furnish with a kerb
curb1836
kerb1861
1861 Sunderland Times 21 Sept. That the footpath behind Cumberland-terrace be flagged and kerbed.
1887 Athenæum 8 Jan. 58 The muddy streets were gravelled and kerbed.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1901; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1664v.1861