the.com/kerb
the curb's British twin, quietly separating your shoes from certain vehicular doom
means the raised edge of stone or concrete bordering a pavement, separating the footway from the road.
from Just a British spelling of "curb," which came from the Old French "courbe" (a curve or bend), itself from the Latin "curvus," meaning bent or curved. The word originally described things that bent or restrained — a horse's curb-bit, a curbing rein — before settling onto the bent stone edge of a street. Britain kept the "kerb" spelling for the pavement edge while reserving "curb" for the verb meaning to restrain; America, less fussy, uses "curb" for both.
- spelling split
- British kerb, American curb, same Latin root curvus
- weightlifting term
- kerb originally meant restraining or curbing something
- kerb crawling
- a specific driving offence named after it
- dropped kerbs
- lowered sections legally required for wheelchair access
- kerb appeal
- property value judged before anyone steps inside
kerb appeal — real estate term measuring a property's visual attractiveness from the street, influencing buyer interest and resale value
kerb weight — automotive specification: the weight of a vehicle without passengers or cargo, regulated by manufacturers
kerb market — informal trading in securities outside official stock exchange, historically active in london and other financial centers