v. i. [ Prob. imitative. ] To coo. [ Scot. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The owlets hoot, the owlets curr. Wordsworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. corinthe (raisins de Corinthe raisins of Corinth) currant (in sense 1), from the city of Corinth in Greece, whence, probably, the small dried grape (1) was first imported, the Ribes fruit (2) receiving the name from its resemblance to that grape. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A small kind of seedless raisin, imported from the Levant, chiefly from Zante and Cephalonia; -- used in cookery. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The acid fruit or berry of the Ribes rubrum or common red currant, or of its variety, the white currant. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Bot.) A shrub or bush of several species of the genus Ribes (a genus also including the gooseberry); esp., the Ribes rubrum. [ 1913 Webster ]

Black currant, a shrub or bush (Ribes nigrum and Ribes floridum) and its black, strong-flavored, tonic fruit. --
Cherry currant, a variety of the red currant, having a strong, symmetrical bush and a very large berry. --
Currant borer (Zool.), the larva of an insect that bores into the pith and kills currant bushes; specif., the larvae of a small clearwing moth (Ægeria tipuliformis) and a longicorn beetle (Psenocerus supernotatus). --
Currant worm (Zool.), an insect larva which eats the leaves or fruit of the currant. The most injurious are the currant sawfly (Nematus ventricosus), introduced from Europe, and the spanworm (Eufitchia ribearia). The fruit worms are the larva of a fly (Epochra Canadensis), and a spanworm (Eupithecia). --
Flowering currant,
Missouri currant, a species of Ribes (Ribes aureum), having showy yellow flowers. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. any of several bluish black fruit-eating birds of Australia of the genus Strepera having a bell-like call.
Syn. -- bell magpie. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

n.; pl. Currencies [ Cf. LL. currentia a current, fr. L. currens, p. pr. of currere to run. See Current. ] 1. A continued or uninterrupted course or flow like that of a stream; as, the currency of time. [ Obs. ] Ayliffe. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The state or quality of being current; general acceptance or reception; a passing from person to person, or from hand to hand; circulation; as, a report has had a long or general currency; the currency of bank notes. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. That which is in circulation, or is given and taken as having or representing value; as, the currency of a country; a specie currency; esp., government or bank notes circulating as a substitute for metallic money. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Fluency; readiness of utterance. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Current value; general estimation; the rate at which anything is generally valued. [ 1913 Webster ]

He . . . takes greatness of kingdoms according to their bulk and currency, and not after intrinsic value. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

The bare name of Englishman . . . too often gave a transient currency to the worthless and ungrateful. W. Irving. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. courant. See Current, a. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A flowing or passing; onward motion. Hence: A body of fluid moving continuously in a certain direction; a stream; esp., the swiftest part of it; as, a current of water or of air; that which resembles a stream in motion; as, a current of electricity. [ 1913 Webster ]

Two such silver currents, when they join,
Do glorify the banks that bound them in. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

The surface of the ocean is furrowed by currents, whose direction . . . the navigator should know. Nichol. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. General course; ordinary procedure; progressive and connected movement; as, the current of time, of events, of opinion, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

Current meter, an instrument for measuring the velocity, force, etc., of currents. --
Current mill, a mill driven by a current wheel. --
Current wheel, a wheel dipping into the water and driven by the current of a stream or by the ebb and flow of the tide.

Syn. -- Stream; course. See Stream. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ OE. currant, OF. curant, corant, p. pr. of curre, corre, F. courre, courir, to run, from L. currere; perh. akin to E. horse. Cf. Course, Concur, Courant, Coranto. ] 1. Running or moving rapidly. [ Archaic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Like the current fire, that renneth
Upon a cord. Gower. [ 1913 Webster ]

To chase a creature that was current then
In these wild woods, the hart with golden horns. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Now passing, as time; as, the current month. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Passing from person to person, or from hand to hand; circulating through the community; generally received; common; as, a current coin; a current report; current history. [ 1913 Webster ]

That there was current money in Abraham's time is past doubt. Arbuthnot. [ 1913 Webster ]

Your fire-new stamp of honor is scarce current. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

His current value, which is less or more as men have occasion for him. Grew. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Commonly estimated or acknowledged. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Fitted for general acceptance or circulation; authentic; passable. [ 1913 Webster ]

O Buckingham, now do I play the touch
To try if thou be current gold indeed. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Account current. See under Account. --
Current money, lawful money. Abbott. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a current manner; generally; commonly; as, it is currently believed. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The quality of being current; currency; circulation; general reception. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Easiness of pronunciation; fluency. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

When currentness [ combineth ] with staidness, how can the language . . . sound other than most full of sweetness? Camden. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L.curriculum a running, a race course, fr. currere to run. See Current, and cf. Curriculum. ] 1. A small or short course. [ 1913 Webster ]

Upon a curricle in this world depends a long course of the next. Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A two-wheeled chaise drawn by two horses abreast. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. pl. [ Presumably a pseudo-Latinate coinage based on curricula. See Curriculum. ] Same as curricula, plural of curriculum. This is used commonly in the same sense as curricula, and appears to have arisen due to an incorrect assumption that curricula is a Latin-derived singular word. [ Ungrammatical ] [ PJC ]