Emily Dickinson Lexicon

curl (-s), n. [Danish kroller, to curl, crisp.] (webplay: hair, seas, turn).

1. Ringlet; strand; lock of hair cut as a souvenir.
2. Thin spiral leaf; helix-like stem on a plant; whorl-like projection of an entwining vine.
3. Wave; undulation in water; swell in the ocean.
4. Phrase. “Frocks and Curls”: dresses and hair styles; [merism] little girls who once lived; well-groomed young women who used to be alive.