*cueillir (keu-), (cueillant, cueilli, je cueille), v.a., to cull, to pick, to pluck; to gather; to take up; (nav.) to coil. — des fleurs; to pluck flowers. — des lauriers; to gather laurels.
*cueilloir (keu-), n.m., fruit-basket.
cuider, n.m., fruit-basket.
cuiller or cuillère (ku-lièr), n.f., spoon. — à soupe; soup-ladle. — à café; tea-spoon. — à bouche; table-spoon. — à dessert; dessert-spoon. — à ragoût; gravy-ladle. Elever à la —; to bring up by hand.
*cuillerée (ku-), n.f., spoonful, ladleful. Grande — or — à bouche; tablespoonful. Petite — or — à café; teaspoonful.
*cuilleriste, n.m., spoon maker.
*cuilleron, n.m., bowl of a spoon.
cuir, n.m., hide, skin, leather; strop; slip of the tongue, i.e., pronouncing s for t, and vice versa, at the end of words, or using these letters unnecessarily; as: Il est sorti zhier, j’étaità la campagne, for Il est sorti hier, j’étais à la campagne. —s bruts; raw hides. —s apprêtés; dressed hides. — à rasoir or à repasser; razor-strop. Faire du — d’autrui large courroie; to make free with other people’s money. Tanner le — à quelqu’un; to give any one a hiding. Pester entre — et chair; to fume inwardly. Faire des —s en parlant; to pronounce final s instead of final t, and vice versa; or to sound s or t when there is none at the end of words, i.e.: to drop one’s h’s. — de Russie; Russian leather.
cuirasse, n.f., cuirass, breast-plate, armor-plate, shell. — à l’épreuve du mousquet; ball-proof cuirass. Le défaut de la —; the extremity of or break in the armor, vulnerable part. On lui a trouvé le défaut de la —; we have found his weak side. Endosser la —; to turn soldier.
cuirassé, -e, adj., armed with a cuirass, armor-plated, iron-cased; ready armed; hardened; secret, close. Il est —; he is prepared for anything, he is incapable of feeling remorse. Vaisseau —; iron-clad ship, iron-clad.