A curler is a small tube or roller used to make hair wavy or curly. You wrap sections of damp hair around curlers, wait for the hair to dry (sometimes under a hair dryer or overnight), then remove them to reveal bouncy curls or waves. Curlers come in different sizes: smaller ones create tight ringlets, while larger ones make loose, flowing waves. Your grandmother might remember sleeping in foam curlers covered by a scarf, waking up ready to style her hair for special occasions.

The word also refers to an athlete who plays the sport of curling, a winter game played on ice. In curling, players slide heavy granite stones across the ice toward a target, while teammates frantically sweep the ice in front of the moving stone with brooms. The sweeping melts the ice slightly and helps control where the stone goes. Curling requires precision, strategy, and teamwork. It's popular in Canada and Scotland, and you might see it during the Winter Olympics, where curlers compete intensely while their stones glide across the ice with surprising grace.