spit curl
1
8.4
- noun
- Archaic
:
rizo decorativo
- For several minutes, while she handed out assignments, I just stared blankly at the little spit curl at her ear.
Examples
-
He looked over his shoulder at a woman like all the young women Roland had seen so far in Paris: spit curls, red lips.
Fiction book (1993) -
Where are your spit curls?
-
"Not tall and thin, with a spit curl here.
Fiction book (1993) -
Tall, skinny, with a spit curl here.
Fiction book (1993) -
I parted my hair and combed it carefully, making spit curls over my ears.
Fiction book (1997) -
"A seven-iron, doll," she said, bobby-pinning a spit curl to her temple.
Fiction book (1999) -
The electronically affable bartender nodded, horsehair spit curl bobbing, as it produced a glass and bottle and poured a carefully measured drink.
Fiction book (1993) -
Renee styled her hair with a lovely spit curl that framed her face beautifully.
-
She used a curling iron to create a spit curl that sat flat against her forehead.
-
The vintage photograph showed a girl with a charming spit curl decorating her cheek.
Synonyms
76
1.0
A lock of hair shaped into a small spiral
68
3.7
A small bunch of hair that forms a curl
1
8.5
A small lock of hair shaped to lie flat on the forehead or cheek as decoration
1
5.8
A small curl made by twisting damp hair and holding it with a pin
How Curly
Surface Forms
Morphology
spit + curl
The component 'curl' is literal (a ringlet of hair) while 'spit' refers to saliva used in styling, so the phrase denotes a curl formed/held with spit; the basic idea can be inferred from the parts. However the conventionalized sense of a small, flat decorative curl and the cultural/styling nuance are not fully predictable for a B1 learner, making the expression only partly transparent.
Etymology
The noun spit curl may come from how people used spit to hold a small curl of hair flat against the forehead or cheek. That's why spit curl means 'a small decorative curl' used as part of a hairstyle.