OUT OF CURL, adv. phr. (common).—Out of sorts; out of condition.
TO CURL UP, verbal phr. (familiar).—To be silent; to ‘shut up.’
TO CURL ONE’S HAIR, verbal phr. (common).—To administer chastisement; to ‘go for’ one.
TO CURL ONE’S LIVER or TO HAVE ONE’S LIVER CURLED, verbal phr. (common).—To make one feel intensely. Cf., TURN THE LIVER (q.v.).
1877. S. L. CLEMENS (‘Mark Twain’), Life on the Mississippi, pp. 414–15. This is sport that makes the body’s VERY LIVER CURL with enjoyment.
